Arachne is a clever girl who makes beautiful tapestries, but she is also a big show-off. When she challenges the goddess Athena to a weaving contest, she gets herself in over her head. This version of the myth of Arachne makes a virtue of the repetition in Early Reader texts. Arachne is constantly receiving compliments, then getting mad because the compliments aren’t extravagant enough. She is so rude to her admirers that it’s a positive pleasure to see her get her comeuppance in the end. By the time her spider webs are getting swept away, young readers will be cheering.  

Saviour Pirotta and Jan Lewis’ First Greek Myths series provide adaptations of myths perfectly suited for newly independent readers. The text is kid-friendly, and the cartoonish images are colorful and exciting. Kids as young as three can enjoy reading these on their own, with just a little bit of vocabulary help. Affordable copies are readily available on most used book websites. – Krishni Burns