Here’s a fun approach to nonfiction.
Title: I’m Trying to Love Spiders
Written and Illustrated by: Bethany Barton
Viking, 2015, nonfiction
Suitable for ages: 4+
Themes/topics: spiders, arachnophobia
Opening: I keep telling myself: “Spiders are cool.” I want to love them.
Brief synopsis
(from worldcat.org) This fresh and very funny non-fiction picture book shares lots of fascinating facts about spiders in an entirely captivating way. If I’m Trying to Love Spiders doesn’t cure your spider phobia, it’ll at least make you appreciate how amazing they are…and laugh a lot as you learn about them.
Activites and Resources:
- A perfect text to use to identify fact and opinion
- A springboard for research: Generate a list of other creatures people are afraid of. Choose one to research. Gather facts. Make comparisons such as the author does so that a reader will find it easy to understand. (example: 75 lb of bugs = weight of a Boxer dog) This is great mentor text for creating a class book.
- Write to persuade someone to care about a creature they may find disgusting.
Why I like this book:
It took a second reading to truly appreciate this gem. The extremely creative approach, kid friendly language, and the humor found in the irrepressible urge to squish a “bug” combine to effectively deliver a surprising amount of information on spiders! A great addition to a classroom library.
Visit author Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Books for a plethora of picture books listed by title and topic/theme, each with teacher/parent resources.
Beth Anderson, Children's Writer 
I wonder if this book could convert my son!
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It’s worth a shot!
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Looks like a good shot!
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Whoops, that’s what I get from reading responses as I type. I meant to say Looks like a good choice! 🙂
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I LOVE THE TITLE OF THIS BOOK!
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I guess that’s why I was surprised to see so many interesting facts in it. 🙂
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What a fresh perspective for introducing spider facts!
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It certainly is!!
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This one might be a good one for my son, although he’s 12. He has a terrible fear of spiders. And I think it’s our fault. We took him to Costa Rica a couple of years ago and took him kayaking. They have a great many spiders there, some of them poisonous. At one point a large spider fell out of a tree and into his kayak. We were about 20 feet behind him when he started thrashing and screaming and trying to kill the thing. To this day, he needs to do a spider check of his bed every night, among other things. So maybe this book would be a good thing for him.
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Spider in a kayak is NOT a good thing! Maybe he could write his own version 🙂
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Oh, goody, I love unique twists on nonfiction. I’ll have to check this one out.
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What a great way to approach a book!
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definitely “quirky” 🙂
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Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I hope your students have fun learning and squishing!
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