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Sophie is an artist. She is also a house spider, but one that children will certainly cheer and not fear. The webs she weaves are spectacular--some are stars, or hammocks, or sun patterns--and her mama is very proud of her. When she grows old enough to strike out on her own, however, she is not warmly greeted by the world at large. At Beekman's Boardinghouse, a dull sort of place that "cried out for her talents," she only wants to beautify it with her gossamer artistry. But even as she is spinning a web of curtains for the front parlor, "blending a golden thread of sun into her silk," she is swatted by a screaming landlady! She scampers into the tugboat captain's closet where she sets to work on making him a new suit, day after day, a sleeve here, a collar there. Once discovered there (the captain screeches and climbs out onto the windowsill), she moves on yet again. Now a much older spider, she climbs up a long staircase to settle into a young woman's knitting basket. One day, the woman discovers Sophie... and smiles! Sophie, noticing that her new friend is pregnant and in need of a baby blanket, decides that she will spin one for her baby, a cloth into which she weaves starlight, snippets of fragrant pine, wisps of night, old lullabies, playful snowflakes, and, in the end, her very own heart. Illustrator Jane Dyer, who worked with Eileen Spinelli on When Mama Comes Home Tonight, has outdone herself in Sophie's Masterpiece, painting this bittersweet story in gentle watercolors. She manages to convincingly anthropomorphize Sophie, and paintings like the one of the courageous spider struggling up the long staircase, casting long shadows, will linger long with readers. Ages 4-8.

 本书的作者以没有成见的新奇眼光，观看一般人不以为意的角落，创造出新奇好听的故事，触发读者心中对美与善的渴求和感动。当我们对蜘蛛的生物特性有些许认识后，更能体会作者拟人化的文学手法多么灵活巧妙，将故事主角的生物性自然地糅合进人类社会的情感与价值观，以及小孩成长中面临的认同、挫折等成长问题。书中图画的表现可谓完美的演出，角色的造型、表情、姿态与场景的布置、氛围，使故事更逼真动人。例如苏菲年幼时在画面上翻转变换出多种蜘蛛网图案，活泼可爱……苏菲年老时拄着拐杖在窗边仰望星空，衰老苍凉。一幅又一幅连续的画面不仅推进情节，也诠释了故事，使人回味不已。