The Deadliest: Spider

by Eleanor Spicer Rice, Max Temescu (Illustrator)

Overview

Six venomous spiders face off against the Death-O-Meter to determine which will be crowned the deadliest of the species.

Meet the deadliest spiders on Earth.

Whose bite is the most venomous? Is it the sneaky black widow? The shy recluse? The aggressive Brazilian wandering spider? Or someone else?

The host of this stiff competition, Dr. Eleanor Spicer Rice, teaches the rules for spider interactions (Do not touch! Do not fear!), gives a digestible breakdown of arachnids, and introduces the contestants.

The Deadliest: Spider invites readers into the world of spiders: where they live, their spidery habits—and what could happen if you get bitten by one. It also encourages readers to appreciate them, showing how they survive, why they’re important to the places they live—and why we should leave them alone and protect them. With humor and accessible science presented in a colorful graphic format by best-selling artist Max Temescu, this fang-filled picture book shows that a lot to learn about these deadly creatures beyond their venomous bites.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324053729
Publisher:	Norton Young Readers
Publication date:	02/04/2025
Series:	The Deadliest
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Eleanor Spicer Rice, PhD, is an entomologist, science writer, and regular expert on Discovery’s What on Earth? She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Max Temescu is a designer and New York Times best-selling illustrator currently based in Washington, DC.

Editorial Reviews

2024-09-28
A rogue’s gallery of venomous spiders.

Claiming that her six profiles are “for fang fans only,” Spicer Rice in fact also offers broad views of the roles spiders play in food chains and ecosystems in general. She presents a sort of arachnid reality show that gives readers opportunities to pick the deadliest candidate and to come away appreciating the eight-legged horrors for their place in nature. “We have them! We need them! Let’s love them!” she proposes in her frothy narrative. She notes that widow spiders come in white, red, and blue as well as black (and recluses come in shades other than brown), observes that Australian funnel-web spiders like to hide out in enclosed spaces such as shoes, and, with particular relish, details the painful, if seldom fatal, symptoms of being bitten by each of the contestants. Along with cartoon depictions of sick or terrified human victims of diverse hue, Temescu tucks in lots of close-up views of spiders, both anthropomorphic and anatomically correct, from spinnerets to “Fangs! Fangs!” All six are melodramatically posed along a “Death-O-Meter” at the end, next to a revelation that while almost no one dies from spider bites today, air pollution takes a far more lethal toll globally; even video games are deadlier.

Terrifyingly informative. (drawing lesson)(Informational picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews