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 dragonflys wings,
the short, sharp needle of a honey bees 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 dont 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

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