West Rand scorpion and snake expert, Jonathan Leeming is about to release an exciting book that focuses on spiders, specifically written with children’s fascination with these animals in mind.

He explained his new book, titled Spider Nature Explorer is about connecting the young mind not only to spiders, but how these animals fit into the bigger picture, the benefits they offer mankind and their conservation value.

Jonathan added that this book is ideal for children aged eight and older who have a keen interest in spiders.

I wrote this book as a way not only to teach the younger generation about spiders, but also to leverage a child’s interest and fascination for spiders to create opportunities for writing, comprehension, interpretation, observation, critical thinking and speaking skills because these are all skills that I wish I had developed when I was fascinated by spiders at an early age.”

When asked how he found the writing process of the book, Jonathan explained that he has been fortunate enough to have been working with spiders for over 20 years, so the information was not difficult; the challenge for him was how to translate his knowledge and understanding into a format that would inspire, and create a fascination and understanding of spiders.

He will also be writing a scorpion and snake version of the nature explorer.

The Spider Nature Explorer children’s workbook has also been designed to add value to homeschooling as it provides information on spiders and has activities that help the learners interpret what they have learned in a practical way.

The book has been designed to be applicable to any location in Southern Africa and it’s packed with practical exercises and activities, perfect for nature reserves, national parks or just a weekend away.”

Jonathan added that the content in the workbook focuses on 30 spiders that are common throughout Southern Africa, and that are easy to identify. These spiders are depicted on the free posters and it provides a framework which can be used to identify spiders in the field or at home. These posters can be found and downloaded at www.Scorpions.co.za/Nature-Explorer.

He explained the contents of the book focuses on understanding spiders and the value in the greater scheme of things.

“There is a section entitled ‘Should we be afraid?’ which addresses the fear of spiders. Another section entitled ‘Misinformation’ tackles the most common misperceptions and misinformation that cloud our understanding of these animals”.

Jonathan stated that with an increased knowledge and understanding of spiders, the fear of these creatures is reduced.