From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-In this addition to the Sills' nature series, 15 full-page watercolor paintings depict 16 kinds of arachnids. The text briefly describes either a physical or behavioral characteristic common to all arachnids, or a special characteristic of the one shown. For instance, the line accompanying a painting of a brown daddy longlegs reads, "Arachnids have eight legs-" while the sentence, "Many arachnids spin silk to help them capture food" appears opposite a portrait of a golden silk spider in the middle of its web. In an afterword, short blocks of additional text offer more detail and miscellaneous bits of information. The primary focus here is on the paintings. The watercolors of invertebrates in natural settings are attractive and realistic, reflecting the messy details of nature-leaf litter, leaves with holes chewed in them, etc. However, the artwork isn't always entirely successful. For instance, the text states that arachnids have "-two main body parts," but it is hard to see two distinct parts in the painting of the desert tarantula since it shows only a side view of the spider and its front legs and carapace are virtually the same color. The depictions of ticks and garden spiderlings are so small that it is difficult to distinguish characteristics. Margery Facklam's Spiders and Their Web Sites (Little, Brown, 2001) provides more thorough descriptions of six of the same spiders, plus the daddy longlegs, and is illustrated with clear close-up drawings.
Karey Wehner, formerly at San Francisco Public LibraryCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
PreS-Gr. 2. Similar to the Sills' previous introductory books about animals, such as
About Amphibians (2001) and
About Insects (2000), this clearly written presentation offers the basic facts about arachnids in very simple language, enhanced by excellent, large-scale paintings. A typical double-page spread features a sentence or phrase about arachnids on one side, with a clearly delineated example of one species in its habitat on the other. The species is identified in small type, along with the plate number. On the last four pages, a small version of each picture is reproduced in black and white, along with more information about the individual species shown, which include the brown daddy longlegs, the California trapdoor spider, the eastern wood tick, and the giant desert hairy scorpion. This colorful volume is well designed for children intrigued by the eight-legged creatures and for teachers planning preschool and primary-grade units on arachnids.
Carolyn PhelanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
