Spinning Spiders

Okay, I'll admit it. I don't like spiders, not in the least, and honestly every time I looked at the inside cover of this book my skin crawled and I got an icky shiver. You know, the one where you raise your shoulders just a bit and make a face. That's a testament to how realistic the illustrations in this book are. The book I'm talking about is part of the Let's-Read-And-Find-Out series titled Spinning Spiders written by Melvin Berger and illustrated by S.D. Schindler. If you like spiders or like me, are trying to come to terms with a dislike of spiders, then you'll probably enjoy this book. I know, you're thinking "but Kerry, why would you get a book on spiders if you really don't like them?" The answer to that is easy. Yes, it's true spiders make my skin crawl, however I find them to be incredibly fascinating creatures in many ways. I just can't look at them very long or have them sneak up on me. I scream bloody murder when one decides to surprise me, and spend the next chaotic five minutes squealing while trying to capture it in a jar. It's true, very rarely do I kill a spider, instead I choose the capture and release method even if I probably shave a few minutes off my own life for it!

Well, now that I've gotten sufficiently side-tracked, let's head back to the book. *Shiver* Berger begins by explaining that spiders are in fact, not insects but are instead arachnids, and continues on with  descriptions of both creatures. He also details the various ways spiders create and use their webs, which is quite amazing. Did you know that the Ogre-faced spider actually carries its web, hangs from a branch, and catches it's own food? Or that another type of spider "fishes" for its meals in the air by swinging a sticky ball of silk thread? Mother nature, you are amazing!

A really neat extension that was listed in this book was a spiderweb activity, where you can actually collect a spiderweb and hang it on your wall! Can you believe it? Well, if you don't you'd better check this book out and follow the directions in the back!

Wild Tracks!

Have you ever been out for a walk in the woods and seen a set of animals tracks? Did you ever wonder what kind of creature might have made them? Well, if you happened to be carrying this book you might very well be able to identify them.

Wild Tracks, a non-fiction picture book written and illustrated by Jim Arnosky is an interesting and very informative book all about the various animal tracks you might stumble upon outside in the U.S. This handy little guide is filled with life-size drawings of all sorts of woodland creatures prints, so if you did happen to have this book with you, you could compare the tracks side by side. How cool is that?

For this book, Arnosky broke up his informational text into seven different types of tracks: deer, other hooved animals, bears, small animals, reptiles and birds, felines, and canines. For each section he includes a brief overview of the track family as well as labeled pencil drawings of the various animal prints. He also includes examples of tracks for animals running and walking with the average distances between each print.

The illustrations for this book are vibrant and colorful, which definitely lend a lot of spirit to the overall product. To really tie them into the concept of the book, Arnosky made sure that each animal in the painting also had their tracks displayed as you might see them in the wild.

Overall, I think students, especially upper elementary and above, would really enjoy this book and learn a lot from it, particularly with the life-size drawings. This is definitely a book you could use at your own home to figure out which little creature has been scampering across your flowers at night! You could even expand on this concept by having students make their own human tracks out of clay and displaying them around the room.