Gr 3-5-- These brief introductions profile some of the most fascinating spiders in the world, notable for such diverse attributes as extraordinary size, unique behavior patterns, or extreme toxicity of venom. Each title describes its animals' general physical and behavioral characteristics, natural habitat, geographical range, type of prey, hunting techniques, feeding methods, and potency of venom. Bird-Eating Spiders, Black Widow Spiders, and Fishing Spiders also discuss egg-laying behavior. Eleven excellent close-up color photographs of the spiders discussed accompany the texts. The texts are well organized, clearly written (the print is large and easy to read as well), and generally accurate. However, some important data has been omitted. While family names, some suborders, and genera are identified, only one title provides the full scientific name of a species (i.e., Black Widow Spider)-- most spiders are identified solely by common names. Only half of the titles mention the average length of the spiders they examine, a particularly significant omission in Tarantulas, as this species is one of the largest in the world. Most books available on the subject are general introductions, briefly covering many species (i.e., Dallinger's Spiders Lerner, 1981 and Penny's Discovering Spiders Bookwright, 1986. Patent's The Lives of Spiders (Holiday, 1980) includes short sections on most of the species covered in these books, but not all. Considering the number and quality of the photographs offered here, these books will help fill a need in libraries with a heavy demand for books on spiders. --Karey Wehner, San Francisco Public Library
