I Wonder Why Spiders Spin Webs : And Other Questions about Creepy Crawlies

Browsers and young students alike will enjoy these lively question and answer books with their unique mix of realistic illustration and engaging cartoons. The enticing questions will amaze, amuse and inspire, while the highly visual format encourages kids to keep reading.

K-Gr 4--Although illustrated throughout with excellent drawings, some lifelike and some cartoons, the pictures in these books don't show the relative sizes of the subjects under discussion. For instance, a fairly creepy centipede is practically as big as a young child shown sleeping with his teddy bear, and a bee and a bear appear to be about the same size. The question-and-answer format doesn't work well, either. The questions aren't the kind that would spring naturally or commonly from a child's mind. Instead, they seem to have been made up in order to provide a certain answer, e.g. ``What digs graves and then robs them?,'' ``Which bridge can you shop on?,'' and ``Which insect has a fierce bottom?'' These questions don't build on one another, thus adding to the erratic quality of their presentation. Each title has an index, but these books are unlikely resources for ready reference or reports, and it's doubtful that they will generate much demand.

Melissa Gross, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA

Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.