SPIDERS

An excellent science book by a frequent author. Within the triple borders of black and vividly colored lines framing each page, Gibbons uses deep green and blue backgrounds to set off transparent webs and drab spiders to fine advantage. In a succinct, informative text, she describes some of the 30,000 species of spiders, meanwhile illustrating assorted webs: sheet, tangled, funnel, triangle, and orb. Especially useful are carefully labeled side-by-side drawings of a spider's body and an insect's. A final page offers more odd facts—''Little Miss Muffet'' was probably recoiling from a meal of mashed spiders, ``a common cold remedy, about 200 years ago.'' Visually appealing, solid information. (Nonfiction. 5-8)