Did you know? (spider web edition)

That a spider web strand reaching all the way around the world would only weigh 12 ounces?

I found this information on page 9 in the book Spiders’ Secrets. Their silk is twice as strong as a steel cable of the same thickness!

There are more than 35,000 kinds of spiders. Spiders and their Web Sites by Margery Facklam shows us fishing spiders, spitting spiders, jumping spiders and more. This book has very nice artwork of some of the spiders, and excellent diagrams of the body parts. Spiders Spin Silk by Elaine Pascoe shows us what kind of web each of them spins.

Web sites are more than where the spider put its web… Today, a good web site can make or break a business. Teach yourself Visually Web Design by Rob Huddleston is an excellent resource for anyone needing to make a web site for any reason. We have other books, such as Design Accessible Web Sites by Jeremy J. Sydik, that are a little more technical if you need to fine tune your new or existing web site.

Of course we all know that spiders spin their webs with silk, but it is not used for making clothes. This is because long strands are needed to make clothing, and spiders spin only short ones. Spider silk is used to make various items such as sewing thread, kite string and fishing line. You can read more about the history and process of making silk in the book Silk by Adele Richardson.

And lastly, spiders spinning webs makes me think of Spider-man! Spider-Man the Ultimate Guide by Tom DeFalco tells you all about the way Spider-Man shoots the web and goes flying from building to building high above the city… what a way to travel!

Be sure to visit A Reading Life for more reviews and news of all things happening at the Everett Public Library.

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