Customer Reviews

Black Widow Spiders (Dangerous Animals)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is our first encounter with the Dangerous Animals Series and I have to say, I'm not terribly impressed with this volume. On the surface, it appears quite informative, starting out with a small section entitled, "Fun Facts About Black Widow Spiders," which is rather like an introduction. From there the readers are given four chapters followed by a Photo Diagram (labeling the various body parts discussed in the text), a glossary, additional reading, a listing of web resources (very short) and an index. When I started reading Black Widow Spiders, I was initially impressed by the introductory section which contains a number of interesting facts to titillate the reader and get them excited about the subject (and hinting at the information contained in the books four chapters). I say initially it was attractive because as it turns out, this information is (including scientific grouping, size, coloring, habitat, range, food, and behavior) was taken word for word from the text...so they get this information (exact same wording) a minimum of two times and in a couple of instances more than that.

I feel that the information explaining how the scientific grouping works was very helpful and that the text made good use of scientific terms in a way that was both accessible to young readers and highly informative. Black Widow Spiders uses quite a few photographs which are helpful in illustrating the facts given in the text and help bring a "real" feel to the book, there are even a couple of photographs of Widow Spiders that are not the traditional black color. I also liked that the author took care to explain how the name of this spider evolved and to dispel the myth that the female spider always eats the male after they mate. Unfortunately, the repetition of information is distracting and detracted from what might otherwise be a great book (even my 10 year old commented on it). Overall, I give this 3 stars. It's an excellent starter book for learning more about this particular "dangerous animal" but for the age range listed (9-12) I think the repetition is a little too obvious. I think this book is better suited to the 7-10 age range where that repetition might not be quite so obvious or might even be helpful in for emerging independent readers in acquiring and retaining the many interesting facts about Black Widows contained in this book.