Spinning Spiders

This book will be very pleasing to children. The illustrations, by S.D. Schindler, are clear and colorful. The text itself is simply put, but is packed full of spider information. I did not know about the different kinds of webs that spiders spin - a great variety. I did not know that there are more than 30,000 kinds of spiders. I did not know that the spider's "solid thread of silk" is first a liquid that comes out of spinnerets, then it hardens and becomes very sticky, making it easy to entrap insects. And this silk thread can "stretch almost twice its length." I really did not know spiders, and I've seen them all my life. They are very complex and intricate, and now I look at them with new eyes. Eyes of wonder and awe. The author points out that while people fear spiders, spiders rarely injure people. In the United States, only two kinds of spiders can bite a human being, but they are both very shy and usually run if a human draws close. This book is really a gem. A wonderful way to introduce any child, or an adult-child, to the wonders of spinning spiders.