Spiders Have Fangs

I Didn't Know That...

by Claire Llewellyn

Gr 1-3--Loaded with fascinating facts and colorful drawings, these titles will prove useful and fun for students. Spiders answers questions about arachnids young readers might never have thought to ask. For example, they learn that spiders must spin a new web daily since old threads lose their stickiness and break easily. Allan Fowler's Spiders Are Not Insects (Children's Press, 1996) covers some information not found here, but is drier in text and appearance. Trains offers facts not included in Angela Royston's Trains (S & S, 1992). Projects are simple enough to be done without adult supervision. Search-and-find activities sprinkled throughout the texts will be popular with today's Where's Waldo? loving crowd. Bold lettering (interspersed black pages have white print) is easy on readers' eyes. Italicized words appear in the appended glossaries. There are no pronunciation guides for challenging words such as "arachnophobia" and "cylinders" but never mind; these titles are designed to instill interest in students and as such they are fine starting points for further learning.Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Claire Llewellyn is a prize-winning author of non-fiction for young readers – in 1991, she was shortlisted for the prestigious TES Junior Information Book Award for Take One: Rubbish – and in 1992, she won that award for My First Book of Time. Since then, Claire has written more than 100 children’s books on a wide range of subjects. Ask Dr K Fisher About Animals was shortlisted for the 2008 Royal Society prizes for Science Books Junior Prize.