Frank the Seven-Legged Spider
Michaele Razi
Little Bigfoot (Sasquatch)

Frank the spider enjoys spinning beautiful webs;

he also enjoys scaring humans; most of all though he likes his eight ‘beautiful, glorious legs.’

One day though, Frank wakes up minus one of his prized limbs: with only seven legs, is he still a spider?

Once he’s got the hang of being a tad lop-sided, Frank sets off in search of his missing leg. He tries several likely spots including a dark, warm cave

but no matter where he searches there isn’t any sign of his lost leg.

Fortunately just when everything seems totally dismal some ants come along and what they tell him makes Frank realise that all the things that make him spidery – web spinning, leg wiggling and scurrying – are still on his can do list.
Hurrah! Identity crisis averted; bring on self-acceptance; for sure, despite his physical disability, Frank’s lost none of his capacity for pranks.

That final spread doesn’t quite hold the last laugh though. After it come a credits page showing another spider holding something that might just belong to our protagonist …

Michaele Razi’s straightforward text and abundance of speech bubbles, in combination with her uncluttered illustrations executed in a carefully considered colour palette, present the physically challenged arachnid as a positive character ready to take on whatever life throws at him. Pretty cool!