Belle

I mentioned earlier that I was wanting to get a good picture of Sister Sue or Big Spider so you could see just how lovely and multi-shaded these beauties are.

Neither of them felt cooperative; in fact, Sister Sue has moved higher than ever, but Belle moved in a couple of days ago and she was kind enough to pose at eye level. Isn't she stunning?

Sister Sue Moves Again

At least, I think this is she.

This is probably the last picture I'll post of her unless she moves again. She's now between yards and best photographed from the neighbors' yard. The new neighbors' yard. We haven't met yet, and I am reluctant to march up to their door and ask permission to photograph spiders in their yard.

When I started this, I thought spiders stayed put! I know, this contradicted the mysterious multiplication of webs in the Fall, but it was one of the things I "knew" all the same. Nope. They move. Mind, I'm only almost sure this is Sue. I know she's not over the gate any more, and that the tree isn't, measured in web-lengths, an impossible distance away. It's the same size web, too, though slanted a bit more because of its location. So--for my purposes, this is Sue. Maybe one of these days I'll find out how arachnologists track their subjects.

The Eensy-Weensy Spider adapted by Mary Ann Hoberman, Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, a book review

The Eensy-Weensy Spider is tremendously fun.

Hoberman's rhyme takes the eensy-weensy spider off exploring after she's finished climbing the water spout. She visits a playground, swims with a frog, marches in a band, stays out too late, and has a collection of preschool-sized adventures with the other bugs in the area.

Initially, I thought the rhymes had a very odd rhythm, but once I started singing them I realized that the fit the original song perfectly. It just isn't meant to be spoken.

Westcott's illustrations are cute, bright, and a tremendous amount of fun. Her little pink spider is expressive as she marches off determinedly to explore the world. She is surrounded by a bright, cheerful, challenging world. I found the whole delightful, though I have a special fondness for the preying mantis and the helpful beetle.

Spider Byte

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Brown Widows: Not So Bad

When I first heard of brown widows I jumped to the conclusion were black widows only a different color. I've been poking around a bit, though, and they a) are not the same spider, nor, apparently particularly dangerous. The bite hurts, but that's it. This UCR article on Brown Widows is a fairly good example of what I found, and I'd say they are a reliable source, so it seems that I can go back to gardening among the rose bushes in peace untroubled by the five I know live there.

Sister Sue Shows Off

Sister Sue's Finished Web

Sister Sue is a showoff. Like Big Spider, she's moved her web. Unlike Big Spider, she is more visible now than before, arching over the gate. Also unlike Big Spider, she starts her web early. Last night, she started around six, before it was at all dark. Someone broke one of the weblines of her old web, and that got her busy. I'm not sure she was wise; one of the times I went out to check on her, there was a bird perched nearby and looking very interested.

She also stayed well into the morning, I guess because it was a cloudy day. Again, this is unlike Big Spider who has spent the day tucked away.

I'm still trying to get a picture that will adequately reflect the range of browns and golds on the two. They are truly stunning. The flash, unfortunately, washes them out a bit, and even Sue isn't out in full sun.

Barn Spider Dorsal View

Barn Spider Ventral View

The Return of Big Spider!

Big Spider finishing her web.

It turns out Big Spider hadn't died or disappeared. She just moved across the way a bit to a tree, and I didn't know to look. She is only visible from a couple of angles now, and I'm sure the tree bounces a lot less than the clothesline. That shook every time someone slammed a car door nearby, and we're not exactly a car-free neighborhood.

She's still really skittish, though, and careful about the light. Her web is up much later than Sister Sue's, and, even on a non-shaky web, she disappears almost as soon as we're out in the morning.

Big Spider's hideaway.

Spiders by Nic Bishop, a book review

Spiders is an absolutely gorgeous book. Nic Bishop has a note in the back explaining that he kept many of the spiders in the house in order to catch them at key moments, and it shows. The pictures are stunning, the sort that make me ask "How come kids get the fun books?" They are also all carefully identified; each picture is accompanied by the name of the  spider as well information about what the spider is doing at that moment and why.

The text, too, reflects the care Bishop took. It is carefully presented for younger readers (The Sholastic site suggests first through third graders), without being overly simplified or stilted. There is an underlying affection and respect for the creatures.

Page layout and font choice are also spot-on. The pages are colorful without being distracting. The whole book gives the sense that spiders really are wonderful and that learning is a joyous thing. Scholastic also deserves credit for crafting a very sturdy book. The copy I read was from the library, and it has obviously been read but is in very good shape, even the fold out of the jumping spider (a gorgeous series of pictures) is still intact.

Highly recommended.

Brown Widow

Look at that--beautiful creamy back with brown speckles. Nice, innocent spider busy weaving her tangled web.

Then she rolls over.

Common sense tells me that I've been gardening out there barehanded and sometimes barefoot for years, and that it is highly unlikely that a bunch of brown widow spiders decided to show up in that evening just because they heard there would be cameras.

I'm still buying a pair of gardening gloves.

Spiders by Dan Greenberg, a book review

Overall, Spiders was a fairly average children's book with one minor and one significant drawback.

Greenberg gave a overview of what spiders are and how they behave, and provided a quick world-tour of spider types. There are some really good pictures--I particularly liked the shot of the ogre-faced spider waiting to trap an unwary insect--and one or two memorable lines. One thing I really appreciated was that most of the spiders pictured are identified by family name, making them less generic.

The minor drawback: Vocabulary words are italicized, giving the book something of a textbook air, moving it from "This is interesting stuff you might like to know" to "You are being educated." How much this bothers the target audience I don't know. I found it mildly irritating.

It was the end, though, that made me furious. After four chapters (38 pages) if interesting tidbits on spiders, the last chapter drops the "spiders are endangered" bomb. The last few sentences read "Scientists have found evidence of spiders having concentrated levels of lead and other heavy metals in their bodies. More importantly, spider habitats are being destroyed or damaged at an alarming rate in today's world. Spiders themselves are being killed by over-use of chemical pesticides that are sprayed on crops. Perhaps it is time to take these threats seriously."

That's it. The end. What a message for the kids. The final thought is "Spiders are doomed." Sweet dreams, everyone.

There isn't even a token suggestion that we might delay the apocalypse for a while by recycling or not over-watering the garden. The closest thing to it is a suggestion, in a separate text box, that it might be a good idea to "not be overly neat in the yard." Right. Leaving a little clutter is going to save us from the oncoming death of the spider.

Yes, I know that extinction is a concern, and we need to care for the environment, but is this really the absolute, final thought Greenberg meant to leave in his readers' minds? Really?