About Arachnids: A Guide for Children

K-Gr 3-In this addition to the Sills' nature series, 15 full-page watercolor paintings depict 16 kinds of arachnids. The text briefly describes either a physical or behavioral characteristic common to all arachnids, or a special characteristic of the one shown. For instance, the line accompanying a painting of a brown daddy longlegs reads, "Arachnids have eight legs-" while the sentence, "Many arachnids spin silk to help them capture food" appears opposite a portrait of a golden silk spider in the middle of its web. In an afterword, short blocks of additional text offer more detail and miscellaneous bits of information. The primary focus here is on the paintings. The watercolors of invertebrates in natural settings are attractive and realistic, reflecting the messy details of nature-leaf litter, leaves with holes chewed in them, etc. However, the artwork isn't always entirely successful. For instance, the text states that arachnids have "-two main body parts," but it is hard to see two distinct parts in the painting of the desert tarantula since it shows only a side view of the spider and its front legs and carapace are virtually the same color. The depictions of ticks and garden spiderlings are so small that it is difficult to distinguish characteristics. Margery Facklam's Spiders and Their Web Sites (Little, Brown, 2001) provides more thorough descriptions of six of the same spiders, plus the daddy longlegs, and is illustrated with clear close-up drawings.-Karey Wehner, formerly at San Francisco Public Library Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.