Spiders (Nic Bishop: Scholastic Reader, Level 2)

"It is easy to think that photography is fast. After all, you press the shutter button and the photograph is completed in 1/100th of a second. But it is all the planning and preparation beforehand that takes the time." --Nic Bishop Imagine snapping a picture of a jumping spider, leaping from one rock to the next. Obviously this is something that happens very fast, so it takes a lot of work to get the picture just right. You have to visit Nic Bishop's website to find out the unusual techniques he uses to capture events like this for his award-winning nature books. But it's because of his unusual techniques that his nature books stand out. Look closely at the pictures in a Nic Bishop book, and you'll find that the details are mesmerizing. In Nic Bishop: Spiders, you can literally count the hairs on a tarantula, see the invisible spider webs one usually walks through, and read all about the gruesomeness that seems to follow spiders wherever they go. Spider lovers will enjoy learning how spiders spin webs, turn their prey's insides into soup, and how a spider uses its pedipalps, or two short arms to hold its prey. Meanwhile, spider haters will have their arm hairs standing on end! Bishop studied and photographed more than a dozen types of spiders for this book from the largest known as the Goliath birdeater tarantula from South America to ones that he raised in his home. He captures rare occurrences like molting, courting, and egg-laying.

Beautiful photography, very informative, descriptive detail just right to keep kids interested without overloading them. I would highly recommend.

My son is 5 and very curious about insects (and most things in general)... the descriptions are interesting and photos fantastic. While there's a lot of depth there, you can skip some of it, and cover what you choose. I definitely recommend it for any child that's intellectually curious and not squeamish about bugs!

Nic Bishop's SPIDERS examines all kinds of spiders through the lens of Nic Bishop's close-up color photography. Full-page spider images are accompanied by natural history facts to captivate even reluctant readers.