About Arachnids: A Guide for Children (About...)

By Cathryn Sill and John Sill

Book Overview

Creepy crawlies and eight-legged wonders abound in this classroom favorite and beginner's guide to arachnids.

In this book from the acclaimed About... series, educator and author Cathryn Sill uses simple, easy-to-understand language to teach children what arachnids are, how they live, what they eat, and how they reproduce.

With beautifully detailed, realistic paintings, noted wildlife illustrator John Sill introduces readers to a diverse range of arachnids, from the poisonous brown recluse spider to the innocuous giant desert hairy scorpion.

An afterword provides more details about each species featured in the interior.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1561450383
• ISBN13: 9781561450381
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
• Length: 40 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.1" x 8.9"
• Age Range: 3 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Great introduction to arachnids!

Great book, as is the whole series. Good way to introduce young children to spiders without fear/negative mythology. Well done.

Wise and wonderful

Young children will learn and retain more about arachnids from these spare pages, than from any other introductory picture book on the subject that I' ve seen. Using the same simple language and up-close "in the wild" illustrations of earlier books in the "About" series on birds, mammals, reptiles and so on, "About Arachnids" answer all the basic questions inquisitive pre-schoolers might pose when first engaged by the subject of arachnids, i.e., spiders, scorpions, mites and ticks. Its simplicity is beautiful. Rather than give a lecture on the scientific classification or various species, the first page boils it down to just four words -- "Arachnids have eight legs..." accompanied by a beautifully rendered close-up illustration of two Brown Daddy Longlegs. The thought continues on the next spread, depicting a color-camoflaged Desert Tarantula: "...and two main body parts." Other fascinating species are selected for inclusion, from the crablike Spiny Orb Weaver to the daring Jumping Spider. Children will naturally want to know more about these mini-beasts, so the creators have included a four-page afterword that pairs a paragraph of data with a repeated black-and-white sketch of the arachnid. Best, the author avoids unnecessary drama - and, in fact, judgement of any kind - when it comes to such much-maligned crawlers as the black widow, tarantula and deer tick. Rather, the conclusion calmly, rationally states "Some arachnids may cause harm [Brown recluse]...but most are helpful and should be protected." Wise and wonderful.