JUST FOR KIDS

Why is that Spider Dancing? The Amazing Arachnids of Aotearoa

By Simon Pollard and Phil Sirvid, Te Papa Press, $29.99

This book has more than most of us would ever want to know about New Zealand's arachnids.

It's a fact filled, easy to read book covering our spiders — what makes them special, where they live, how they eat and reproduce, what sort of webs they build. The photos give us a close-up view of these eight-legged marvels — not for those who are squeamish about spiders! The book looks at where we can find our spiders, from mountains, caves, forests and even waterways (who knew there were water spiders, like the marine spider Desis marina) and of course our backyards.

Written by Dr Simon Pollard, a spider biologist and award-winning natural history photographer and writer, and Dr Philip Sirvid, assistant curator in the natural history team at Te Papa, this is a well researched and accessible book that should capture your junior biologist's interest. And the dancing spider of the title? It's the male jumping spider who dances to attract a mate.

Draw Some Awesome By Donovan Bixley, Upstart Press, $29.99

Wow, what a great book for aspiring artists! Illustrator Donovan Bixley has created an interactive book for both beginners and experienced artists to help them enhance their drawing style. He takes readers through warm-up exercises, sketching out the steps to create memorable characters. Included are tips to stimulate imaginations and some techniques like shadowing and perspective. This is a real treasure for anyone interested in drawing. Bixley is the creator of some of New Zealand's most popular picture books, with more than 120 books published.

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