Wednesday, April 25, 2018

Creepy or cool? A new book about SPIDERS for kids

A new adventure is always exciting, and this month saw me take a step into nonfiction writing for kids. There are a lot of choices to be made in how to present information in a age-appropriate and accurate but engaging way.

Today, the first book in a new nonfiction series for kids launched called EXPLORING MY WORLD: SPIDERS.

 Exploring My World: Spiders by Valerie Coulman


The book began years ago as I started looking around my own yard and neighborhood and the variety of spiders at work there. As a Canadian newly living in the Pacific Northwest, there were some new (and poisonous) spiders I wanted to know about. I spent years following these little specialists around with my camera, and eventually realized I had also learned some fascinating things about the world of spiders.

I am very proud of this book, and very curious to see how young readers and the adults around them react. Why? Because not everyone loves spiders.

When I took the proof along on a classroom visit last week, half the class was excited and the other half sat back. The teacher took a half step back too. A fear of spiders is one of the most common fears people have and it may take some knowledge and some work to overcome that fear in order to learn more about this remarkable creatures.

We live in an amazing world. Exploring it means we sometimes encounter the cool, the fantastic, the bizarre, the slimy and the creepy. But it's also exciting to see how each animal and plant fits into the big picture in the roles they play and the services they provide to us.

Spiders are an amazing family of animals that keep our world a little cleaner, a little more healthy, and a whole lot more interesting. My hope is that this book, and this series, will engage families to explore their own worlds and the many forms of life around them.

Explore on!

Valerie Coulman

P.s. What's your reaction to spiders?



#kidlit #nonfiction #pb #picturebook #spiders #bookbirthday #new

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