Spiders

Seymour Simon

Book - 2003

An introduction to the physical characteristics, behavior, and life cycle of different kinds of spiders.

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Subjects
Published
New York, N.Y. : HarperCollins Publishers 2003.
Language
English
Main Author
Seymour Simon (-)
Edition
1st ed
Physical Description
unpaged : ill
ISBN
9781442001305
9780060283926
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

Gr. 2-5. The stunning cover may repulse squeamish arachnophobes, but fearless types will be fascinated by Simon's foray into the world of spiders. In his now familiar picture-book format that pairs incredible photographs with graceful, clear prose, Simon provides a wealth of information about different types of spiders, their characteristics, habits, and life cycles. The large, full-color, uncaptioned photographs of highly magnified spiders (a tiny note at the end of the book explains that the photos are not actual size) tempt browsers to look at all the pictures first, but browsers will soon be drawn to the text to learn about what they are seeing. What a neat trick! The only thing that's missing is a map showing the distribution of particular spiders; it would have been reassuring to see that fearsome species don't necessarily live next door. --Chris Sherman Copyright 2003 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-6-Essentially, this is a reprint of the 2003 HarperCollins edition, under the respected aegis of the Smithsonian, with a new cover photo, a square rather then rectangular configuration, a new title page, and a less elegant but easier-to-read font. The fantastic color photos of the original edition are all here, as is Simon's crisp, informative text. Team this handsome work with Nic Bishop's simpler (but equally eye-catching) Nic Bishop Spiders (Scholastic, 2007), Margery Facklam's attractive species-specific Spiders and Their Web Sites (Little, Brown, 2001), and/or Michael Elsohn Ross's investigatory Spiderology (Carolrhoda, 2000) for a nifty look into the eye-full, leggy world of arachnids. An attention grabber.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

(Primary, Intermediate) ""Spiders are not the most popular kind of animal,"" states Simon. Generally, yes, but there's also something quite mesmerizing about them, especially when they're safely confined within the pages of a fascinating book. There are all kinds of spiders, and they do the most amazing things -- produce different kinds of silk for trapping food, stabilizing jumps, and breathing underwater; leap large distances onto unsuspecting prey; and, indeed, poison victims by injecting venom through their fangs. The book's numerous color photographs, often close-ups of spider species, are stunning and beautifully reproduced. Readers can count each and every hair on a spider body and practically feel the stickiness of silk coming from a spinneret. Simon takes full advantage of these images, with excellent interactivity between text and photographs maximizing the informational format. The text is written in Simon's signature voice -- straightforward, with conceptually rich explanations pitched to a child's level of understanding, and never, ever simplistic. Simon's appreciation for spiders may actually prompt readers to seek out spiders in their own environments, rather than run away from them. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

The creepy-crawly close-up photo of a hairy spider on the cover will have kids (and adults) saying "Yuck!" while they grab the book to look for more inside. As with other Simon photographic nonfiction, this presents information on spiders in easy, understandable prose. The facts are made relative--for example, "jumping spiders can leap a distance of 40 times the length of its own body, the same as if you jumped the length of two basketball courts and made a slam dunk." Examples interestingly describe the facts, e.g., "some spider silk is three times stronger than steel wire of the same thickness." This is casual nonfiction, no chapters, categories, or index, but the amazing close-up color photos make the almost conversational text captivating. A subject that both fascinates and repels at the same time, this mini-documentary will have kids spinning their own stories about the spiders they've now discovered. (Nonfiction. 6-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.