A beautifully illustrated, informative entry in the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science series explores the biology of spinning spiders. The text dutifully explains the distinction between insects and arachnids, eschewing scientific terminology in favor of language that will be crystal-clear to a primary-grade audience. The catching, killing, and eating of flies is described with a ghoulish relish appropriate to the audience: “Once the fly’s insides have turned to mush, the spider can slurp it up.” Also included is an overview of the many uses and forms of webs. Schindler’s illustrations are a marvel of clarity and composition, varying perspective and picturing several different kinds of spiders in action. Berger’s text, on the other hand, while informative, is for the most part lackluster. Also, the meticulous illustrations, sadly enough, are not labeled, so unless specific mention of a particular spider is made in the body of the text, the many others depicted will remain anonymous. These and other deficiencies make this offering an additional, rather than a necessary, purchase. Back matter provides a web-preserving activity and offers two Web sites for further consultation. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-8)
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-06-028696-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2003
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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