The Spider Lady is an interesting and age-appropriate illustrated biography of Nan Songer for primary school (~7-10 year old) readers by Penny Parker Klostermann. Released 6th May 2025 by Penguin Random House on their Calkins Creek imprint, it's 48 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.
Nan Songer was a mostly self-taught amateur arachnologist and technician whose facility with spiders and collecting their silk for manufacturing sights for ballistic weapons was utilized during and after WW2. The book goes into a surprising amount of detail on her trial-and-effort development of methods of "silking" the black widow spiders she chiefly used. The incredible patience and manual dexterity were admirable.
The text is easy to understand and aimed at the target audience, but will also likely be of interest to adults and older kids. The author/publisher have included useful glossary and references in the back of the book.
The illustrations by Anne Lambelet are attractive and evocatively nostalgic. Rendered in sketch/watercolor/pencil and digital methods, they're full of small details which invite readers to spend some time looking. The art supports the text and time period very well.
Four stars. This would be an excellent choice for public or school/classroom libraries, home use, and gift purposes, especially for STEM interested youngsters.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment