Spider Books

My son used his own money to purchase this book and he really enjoyed it. I grew up reading the Spider Man comics and so I also read it. It is a combination of the description of the powers of Spider Man and how he obtained them and a list of facts about spiders. This is an interesting and effective way to teach children science. While he was reading it, he would come up to me with questions like, "Daddy, did you know spiders . . . ?"
Written at a level perfect for the later elementary school child, this book teaches science in a unique and interesting way. I strongly recommend it.

Do you know how to tell if a tarantula is in its burrow? How about how far a jumping spider really jumps? This book is great for any home or classroom. Children love to learn facts about their environment and I'm sure that they would love this book. I found this book to be fun and educational... I even loved it!

My four year old daughter loves this book! It's got an interesting female hero, engaging pictures (drawn by its twelve-year-old author), and lots of good information about spiders. My girl will sit still for an hour for repeated readings. Highly recommended.

This is a well-told Christmas story for young children that teaches the importance of giving thanks. The illustrations in this book rate 5 stars as well as the story. I sincerely hope it will be re-printed soon.

If you've ever wondered about the life cycle of a dragonfly, then this awesome book is for you. The illustrations are superb and the writing is excellent and easy to understand. I'm passing this book along to my daughter's third grade class. I know they'll enjoy learning about one of nature's most magnificent insects, the dragonfly.

I am a professional entomologist and dragonfly enthusaist and bought this book after I got an advertisement for it in the mail. I love this book! While there are other books on North American dragonflies (such as Needham, Westfall, and May's Dragonflies of North America) that help identify North American specimens to species, there hasn't ever been a book that allows Central and South American dragonfly lovers and scientists to do the same. This book goes a long way toward filling the gap with keys to all of the genera of the New World dragonflies. It is filled with great drawings illustrating the key structural characteristics listed in the keys and contains several full color photographic images. It is organized well and beautifully laid out. I believe this book will prove invaluable to scientists studying Central and South American dragonflies. It is a great contribution to the odonate literature - the authors should be proud of themselves for creating such a masterpiece.

This is a beautiful book not only text-wise but also visually. The book is especially noteworthy because it depicts a woman working in the outdoor field of fire detection, thereby presenting the fire-lookout in the story as a wonderful role model. While accurately representing the life of the dragonfly, the book captures the loneliness and drama atop a fire lookout too. I bought a 2nd copy to donate to the local school library. - Written by Kathy Biggs, author of "Common Dragonflies of California," who hopes to meet Judy Hatch some day!

My 5 year old son, who shows no particular artistic talent, enjoyed this book because he loves bugs. Even though this book is designed for older kids, he did a fair job drawing the crawlies. I uploaded two of his best work above. He gets no adult help.

This is by far one of my favorite "children's" drawing books. I say children, but trust me, adults will find it just as useful and just as enchanting. The author, Doug DuBosque gives us step by step instructions on how to draw a wide range of insect critters. These drawings are in black and white (I find using a simple #2 pencil the best, along with some nice grade drawing paper) and are quite detailed. Now the word detailed may sound intimidating, but it actually is not at all once you get started. His lines and instructions are so simple that the very young can follow them with very little outside help. I photograph these little creatures and find, in my spare time, that is is quite gratifying to be able to draw what I photograph...it is sort of a hobby with me, one that I take great pleasure in. This book gives you a great start. Along with the wonderful drawings (step by step) the author offers, he also has provided a very readable and understandable text. The other books in his series are just as well done, it is just that I am particular to insects. In this small volume, the author also includes spiders, ticks, mites, centipedes and millipedes. All in all, a great little book and if you are interested in such things, a great by. As an added bonus, I have found that if you give a small kid a few pencils, a stack of scrap paper and this book, you can expect to not hear from them for a couple of hours or more, which, in my opinion, is far better than the T.V. or interrupting my naps. The kids seem to love this one.

Gordon Morrison's A DROP OF WATER also tells of a big journey begun with a small event. A drop of water falls from a child's fingertip to eventually journey back to the sky, flowing down a mountain, collecting in a bog, seeping through a beaver's dam and more in the process. Large, lovely drawings illustrate the process. These are all lovely, unique acquisitions.