Praying Mantises

Hungry Insect Heroes

From the Series Insect World

  • Interest Level: Grade 4 - Grade 8
  • Reading Level: Grade 4

Look quickly and you might just see one of nature’s insect heroes on the hunt—praying mantises! With their incredible hunting skills, mantises help rid farms and gardens of insect pests that bother humans. Praying mantises have big eyes that face forward, heads that can turn, and spines on their front legs to spear their prey. And they are stealthy. Even tiny newly hatched mantises know how to remain still and hide until a prey insect appears. Then—like lightning— the mantis strikes! In this exciting book, you can learn what makes a praying mantis similar to and different from other insects. Close-up photographs and diagrams reveal extraordinary details about mantis bodies, both inside and out. And you can perform an activity that helps you understand just how quickly praying mantises can react while hunting. Are you faster than a mantis? Learn more about this heroic member of nature’s fascinating Insect World!

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978-0-7613-4010-2
$31.99
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Interest Level Grade 4 - Grade 8
Reading Level Grade 4
Genre Science
Category Animals
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Lerner Publications ™
Language English
Publication Date 2008-01-01
Reading Counts! Level 4.7
Reading Counts! Points 6.0
Text Type Informational/Explanatory
BISACS JNF003120
Dewey 595.7'27
Graphics Full-color illustrations
Lexile 780
Guided Reading Level U
ATOS Reading Level 4.8
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 120946
Accelerated Reader® Points 0.5
Features Awards, Bibliography/further reading, Glossary, Index, Reviewed, and Sidebars

Author: Sandra Markle

Sandra Markle is the author of numerous award-winning books for children. A former elementary science teacher, she is a nationally-known science education consultant. Markle has received many honors for her series Animal Predators, Animal Scavengers, and Animal Prey. Several titles have been named as National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)/Children’s Book Council (CBC) Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, and Animal Predators was honored as a Top 10 Youth Nonfiction Series by Booklist. Markle is also the author of the Insect World series and several single titles. Her book Rescues! was named a Best Book by the Society of School Librarians International and a Recommended Title of Outstanding Nonfiction by the National Council of Teachers of English’s (NCTE) Orbis Pictus Award committee; Animal Heroes was named a 2008 Lasting Connections title by Book Links. Markle lives in Lakewood Ranch, Florida with her husband, photographer Skip Jeffery.

Awards

  • Science Books & Films Best Books, Winner, 2008

Reviews

Booklist

“Veteran science writer Markle’s enthusiasm for her subject energizes this title about praying mantises that moves from a general summary of insect characteristics to the specifics of mantis anatomy, characteristics, and life cycle. . . this well-written and illustrated entry in the Insect World series will find wide use in elementary science classes and as a personal reading choice for budding young entomologists.”
Booklist

NSTA

“With outstanding color photography accompanied by clear, scientific text, the Insect World series provides a close-up look at the life cycle and habits of some amazing organisms. . . It’s easy to understand why Markle is an award-winning nature writer. This series of books would be ideal for a class studying life cycles or as a reference set for libraries.”
NSTA

School Library Journal

“These books will please report writers, budding entomologists, and anyone who expects children’s nonfiction to be as carefully documented as adult nonfiction.”
School Library Journal