How does it help a spider to be big or little? Markle provides brief text and many photos to demonstrate how body size, huge eyes, two-story webs, and large fangs help different spiders survive. As with other titles in this series, the author uses guiding questions to encourage children to explore the world around them. The author of over 70 science books for children, Markle effortlessly engages the youngest science reader and stimulates the curiosity of less able older readers, discussing how spiders catch their prey, inject venom, molt, and spin webs. She concludes with a world map showing where to find the spiders described, size information on species, as well as a brief spider vocabulary and surprising facts. New Zealand spider biologist Pollard provides striking extra-large, close-up photos of spiders, their fangs, silk spinnerets, webs, eggs, and eyes. Most of the spiders are New Zealand natives, so spider-spotters will need to look elsewhere for local species information. A good beginning to inspire discussion of animal adaptation. (Nonfiction. 5-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-59078-190-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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