Spidernaut: Arabella, the Spider in Space

by Jodie Parachini, Dragan Kordic (Illustrations)

Told in the first person as if written by Arabella herself, she describes how she was the first spider to spin a web in space in 1973, and even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. Reading Arabella's diary and the story, we learn how spiders spin webs and why this experiment, suggested by a high school student, was important.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Space, Science, Childrens, Nature, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2021

Reviews

[Mindy Alyse Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is full of fascinating facts—like how spiders spin webs and how they’re different in space than on Earth. I love that a high school student suggested the question of whether a spider can spin webs in space. Kids often think of the best questions…I’m so glad adults listened to her and checked it out.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book! Had no idea we sent out spiders into space. Learned a lot! The book is written as if the spider wrote it which is great, except for one part near the end when it's talking about its death. That felt weird and "unreal" compared to the rest of the tone of the book. The illustrations are really awesome though.

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of a new series by Parachini called Animalographies, this story about spiders traveling to space will be a hit with kids. NASA has a teaching guide on this topic available for download at nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/resear...

[Bridget Neace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I. Cannot. STAND. SPIDERS.

However, I put that aside for the sake of an objective review (which was a struggle, but look at me go, ha!)

I'd heard about this "Animalographies" series because there's one coming out soon about Balto and Togo (#sleddogsfortheWIN) and I just thought the concept of animal biographies (for the record, I am LOVING the name "Animalographies) sounded so great, I wanted to read any and all of them. There's one that, as I'm writing this review, is yet to be published (but also coming sometime in 2022) about a rat and there's another one about a horse that's already published that my public library currently doesn't have.

Looking forward to reading more of these in the hopefully not-too-distant future.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and factual story about the first spider in space. Having the story told from the spider's POV made the book more interesting for my child.

[Ami Schroder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arabella is one of two spiders sent into space in 1973 to see if they could spin webs. It is told by Arabella and partially written in her diary entries (Hello Diary of a Spider!). Your students will be fascinated by this STEM story! The only thing I really wished was included in the book would have been a photograph of Arabella and Anita. However a quick Google search http://www.collectspace.com/news/news... and you can show them to your students!

Pair this book with Nefertiti, the Spidernaut: The Jumping Spider Who Learned to Hunt in Space by Darcy Pattison.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating book about spiders in space. Interesting regarding the experiments that might take place in space, as well as this unique perspective on spider life cycles. Arabella tells the story herself, which makes it accessible. Pair with Charlotte’s Web or another book about a friendly spider.

Some additional notes are included in the back, but no additional source material.