–by Frannie Miller
The Pesticide Safety and IPM program has developed a children’s book entitled: “Tales: Spider Style.” It features images of Kansas spiders, facts and information to support learning about spiders in the classroom. It was developed for use in Pre-K to 2nd grade. It is important for children to be able to observe the world around them and have an understanding of their importance in our ecosystem. Often times it is our kids that teach us adults with information they have learned.
The Pesticide Safety and IPM program collected data from Kansas teachers on what resources they felt were missing. Several teachers indicated they had lots of books on insects, but not one on spiders. The team had many images of spiders taken around Kansas, so the idea then grew into a children’s book. It features facts about various spiders and a glossary of vocabulary words. Funds for this project were made available from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture through the Crop Protection and Pest Management Grants program.
Copies of these books were distributed to each county Extension Office for distribution to 1st grade classrooms, but we also have a supply at our office. If you are a Kansas teacher who is interested in using this resource in your classroom or want a copy for the school library, then you can e-mail Frannie Miller at fmiller@ksu.edu or call (620) 241-1523 with the address you would like the book sent to until supplies are depleted, then they can be purchased at https://npsecstore.com/products/tales-spider-style.