Sunday, January 8, 2012

Stewart, Melissa Insect or Spider?


Stewart, Melissa        Insect or Spider?      
Enslow            2011   24p     21.26  978-0-7660-3681-9
elem                Which Animal is Which? (Enslow)  VG-BNes        
Explains how to differentiate between insects and arachnids.                Differentiating
between insects and arachnids (spiders) can be challenging for youngsters. 
Rather than lumping them together under the heading, ╥bugs,╙ Stewart compares
and contrasts key features that differentiate the groups, and large, colorful
double-page photographs further underscore these features.  Most insects and
spiders are depicted life size or larger-than-life-size so details are vivid. 
The majority of  photographs are taken at eye level.  Those individuals
squeamish or phobic about spiders and insects may find this distressing, but the
eye-catching, detailed pictures will fascinate others for hours.  The
photographs capture the delicate tracery in the membrane of a dragonfly╒s wings,
the short, sharp needle of a honey bee’s stinger, and the hoary mandibles of a
Goliath bird-eating spider.   

          Subject-specific vocabulary terms are defined in a glossary at the
very beginning of the text, which facilitates comprehension as the terms are
encountered later in the book.  The text is brief, to-the-point, and matter-of-
fact.  It contains basic facts, as well as some interesting ╥factoids╙ (did you
know that scientists don’t know if or how spiders can smell? or that some
insects eat plastic?).  A summary of traits at the end of the text is
accompanied by clear photographs in a colorful page layout.   Welliver, Hilary

No comments: