The Fifth Annual GROG Arthropod Roundtable

hosted by Sue Heavenrich

Welcome to the Fifth Annual Arthropod Roundtable! Grab your cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and please help me welcome our guests. Christine Van Zandt’s book Milkweed for Monarchs fluttered off the shelves last year. Sara Levine’s Watching and Waiting: What Hatches from Nature’s Nurseries hatched out just a couple weeks ago. Penny Parker Klostermann’s newest book, The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid World War II Army will be weaving it’s magic when it releases in a couple weeks. And Susan Edwards Richmond’s third book in the Community Science Counts series, The Great Pollinator Count, just released yesterday.

Some of you may know that insects are my passion. But they weren’t always. In fact, when I was a kid I was terrified of cockroaches. This could be because I could hear them skitter about in the air ducts, and occasionally a couple would drop out and land on me. The ultimate irony: my graduate research was on the behavior of … you guessed it – cockroaches!

That got me wondering whether arthropods were ever “scary” or “creepy-crawly” to other folks? So I asked a few:

Christine with monarch wings

Christine: I was that kid who picked up bugs. I didn’t really understand why kids (or adults!) would scream when, for example, they saw a spider. My parents deserve credit for that since they let me play outside in our large yards. In the back, we had an area that was an ivy “tunnel”—and who knows what lived in there—but it was my favorite place to read books.

Sara: Mostly not.  When I was growing up, I was the one in my family who came to the rescue for bugs found inside the house. When my sister would find a spider, she would yell, “Come and get it! I’m going to kill it!” and that was my cue to come running. I would carefully cover the bug with a glass, slide a piece of paper underneath and escort the arthropod safely outside

Susan:  The only arthropod  I’ve ever really had an ambivalent relationship with is the spider. (Well, and ticks, after we got a dog!) I’ve appreciated spiders’ skills and their niche in nature, but, in the past, preferred to view them with a little distance. I’ve definitely gotten  more drawn to insects and arthropods as a group, however, since I’ve been teaching nature preschool.  In addition to having fascinating life cycles, these animals are easy for young children to discover and observe up close in their environment.

Penny: Interestingly enough, spiders were the only arthropods that were scary to me. And they were very scary to me.  My arachnophobia slowly changed to respect as I did hours and hours of research on spiders to better understand Nan Songer's work. I learned that they avoid humans, whereas before I had the unfounded fear that they might come after me. I was fascinated by the many ways they use their silk and the different ways they hunt or capture prey.  Now, when a spider is nearby, I don't feel the need to flee or stomp. (Yes. Sorry! In my pre-respect past, stomping out of fear definitely happened.)

Me: I totally understand the stomping-out-of-fear response, and am happy that you and your local spiders are now in a relationship of respect. So what made you realize that you HAD to write this book?

Penny

Penny: When I first learned about Nan Songer, I immediately scoured the web (Ha! Couldn't resist.) to see if there was a children’s book about her. I was shocked to find there wasn't a book for children or adults. Besides being shocked, I'll admit that I was also thrilled that I could be the one to share her story. I felt like I'd struck gold in terms of an unsung hero. Her story is unusual and riveting! In order to harvest enough silk needed for crosshairs in scopes during World War II, she kept up to ten thousand spiders in a room in her home! That deserves ten thousand exclamation points instead of just one, right?  Even though my work on this book started in 2017, I've never lost enthusiasm about Nan's contribution to the war effort. I HAD to write this book to share Nan's story and due to my certainty that others would find her work as a home front hero as compelling as I do.

Susan: My passion for children participating in community science has continued to grow since the 2019 release of my first picture book, BIRD COUNT.  Young children are eager to explore their environment and are natural scientists, with their keen focus and propensity for questions.  But many children—and adults as well—are instilled with a fear of bees and other stinging insects, while often celebrating butterflies.  Respect and caution are healthy, but I wanted my readers to gain the same appreciation for all of our insect pollinators

When I learned that Georgia conducted an annual insect pollinator census, which includes schoolchildren, I knew this would be my gateway!  In founder and coordinator University of Georgia Extension’s Becky Griffin, I found the perfect mentor.  She was super knowledgeable and enthusiastic about a book that would engage young participants in the census. Becky and I are pairing up for two weeks of launch events following the book’s April 15 release. The Great Southeast Pollinator Census has now expanded to include four more states—North and South Carolina, Florida, and, most recently, Alabama.  May this notion of promoting a healthy pollinator population continue to grow!      

Sara: A number of things came together. Invertebrate eggs, egg cases, and galls are fascinating, but there is so little on this topic in picture books. I especially wanted to share information about galls, which are bumps formed from the tissue of a plant in which young insects or mites develop. These unique nurseries grow when a mother insect or mite puts down chemicals on the plant while she is laying her eggs. How cool is that?!  Galls come in interesting and unique shapes, and they are easy to find and identify once you know where to look.  The book includes beautiful photographs to introduce children to galls, as well as eggs and egg cases, and to what animals are growing inside of them.

I also wanted to write a lyrical book that emphasized an empathetic approach to learning about animals. Scientific learning is often taught with a focus on taking things apart to see what is inside and how things work. But what if we wait instead and see what happens?

Christine: When I found out that the western monarch was nearly extinct, I knew I had to do something about it. I grew up going to the California coast with my parents in the winter to see millions of monarchs overwintering in the trees. It was amazing. In 2020, there were fewer than 2000 butterflies; in 2024, only about 9000. That may not be enough individuals to sustain the population.

We’ve lost so many animals already and losing the monarch seems preventable if people plant milkweed. Like pandas or koalas, monarch caterpillars can only eat one kind of food: milkweed. There’s not much of found in nature anymore because we’ve cleared land for homes or farms. Home gardeners are reluctant to grow plants that aren’t perfect even though munched leaves mean caterpillars may make it into forming a chrysalis. Also, pesticide use harms a wide range of insects.

Me: What do you hope readers take away from reading your book?

Sara

Sara: I hope readers will come away with an excitement about insect eggs, egg cases, and galls, and that they head outside to search for them. And when they find them, I hope they will be patient and kind enough to observe them over time to see what hatches out.

Christine: I hope they want to help save this amazing animal and encourage their parents, schools, and neighborhoods to plant milkweed. If that’s not possible, then I hope kids share this information so that others, who can plant milkweed, may help out.

Penny: Nan's interest in insects and spiders began when she was a child and continued into her adult years. As an adult, she continued to call her research a "hobby" but, ultimately, her skills and knowledge led to a career that she enjoyed and that also contributed to the war effort. I hope young readers will realize that childhood hobbies and interests are not only enjoyable, but important. They impact their future by nurturing creativity, helping to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills and learning about time management. Who knows, a hobby or interest might even lead to a career, just as it did for Nan Songer.

Susan:   I hope that young children and their families will develop a fascination with the tremendous diversity of these insects—and that THE GREAT POLLINATOR COUNT will inspire them to go outside and observe their own local pollinators.  Another of my hopes is that this book will help people draw connections among all living things, and realize how important each one is to the health of our planet, and, consequently, ourselves.  Maybe readers will want to plant their own pollinator gardens at school or at home, contribute data to local and regional counts, or nurture a desire to learn more on the path to becoming stewards of their environment.  

Me:  As someone who’s been counting pollinators for the past 16 years with the Great Sunflower Project, I agree! I know that counting bees has made me more aware of the need to plant more pollinator flowers.

So … what can we do this Earth Day and every day to help make our world a better place for bugs?

Susan

Susan: Earth Day is the perfect time to launch an initiative with your children, whether you are a teacher, librarian, parent, or other educator or caregiver.  It’s never too early to start developing habits of observation and care that can continue all year and  throughout a lifetime.  Growing and observing the life cycle of a garden or a garden insect, conducting counts, developing research projects or presentations, or writing letters to advocate for local conservation efforts are all wonderful ways to honor our friends the arthropods and improve all of our lives.  

Christine: Hearing bad news isn’t fun, but if we take a moment to realize our impact on the planet then, maybe, we will do one thing to help out the animals and plants we share our world with. Delving into this kind of information can be overwhelming and saddening. I tell myself that I can’t change everything but I can change something.

Penny: Learning what arthropods contribute to our environment is a good first step. In the case of spiders, eating insects is their main contribution. Did you know that spiders eat four hundred million to eight hundred million tons of insects each year and that a single spider eats around two thousand insects a year! By controlling the insect population, spiders reduce the need for chemical pesticides. Spiders also minimize the spread of disease since many of the insects they eat carry diseases that are harmful to humans and animals. 

This Earth Day, make your yard spider-friendly by planting tall sturdy plants to give them a place to spin. Provide a water source such as a bird bath. A thin layer of mulch, leaves or grass clippings will help protect them from the elements. These tips will also attract other insects that contribute to the environment and  will provide plenty of meals for the spiders.

Sara:  Please don’t use pesticides on your yard. Encourage native plants to grow, which provide food and shelter for native bugs. And when you see a bug inside you can’t live with, don’t kill it. Instead, go get a glass and a piece of paper to help safely bring it outside. 

Me: I know I could talk bugs all day long, but my coffee cup is empty. Please drop by our websites and blogs, and remember to go outside and get to know some awesome arthropods.

Flutter over to Christine Van Zandt website at christinevanzandt.com 

Penny Parker Klostermann has spun her website at  pennyklostermann.com  

Sara Levine nurtures stories and more at www.saralevinebooks.com

Susan E. Richmond counts bees at www.susanedwardsrichmond.com

I hang my bug net over at www.sueheavenrich.com

We Love Bugs! a nonfiction author round-table

 My fellow GROGGER, Chris Mihaly and I both had recent bug-related releases. She has two poems in the anthology, The Bee is not Afraid of Me which buzzed off the press earlier this month, and my picture book, 13 Ways to Eat a Fly  buzzed out last month. Turns out that a few of our nonfiction writing friends also have buggy books hitting the shelves this year. 

So we invited them over for the First Ever GROG Roundtable on Arthropods. Imagine the five of us sitting around a table, our hands around mugs of hot beverages. Going around the table we have: Leslie Bulion, whose book Spi-ku: A Clutter of Short Verse on Eight Legs came out at the beginning of this month; Roberta Gibson, whose picture book  How To Build An Insect comes out next week; and Annette Whipple whose book  Scurry, The Truth About Spiders will hit the shelves in a few months.

While Roberta and I have studied entomology (she at Cornell, me at U of Colorado, Boulder) - all you need to write about arthropods is a passion for things with six or more legs. Chris, a former environmental lawyer, has written more than 25 books for kids on a range of topics, including entomophagy (eating insects). Fortunately, her love for insects extends beyond roasted crickets. 

Chris and her little "bug"

Chris: I was wonderstruck one night when a Luna moth landed outside my window. It was stunning: large and luminous, so otherworldly looking. Even though  there are no Luna moths in the UK, I went ahead and submitted my poem “Luna Moth” to Emma Press. When the editors called for more poems about beetles, I thought about beetle soup –  which I’d learned about from the research we did, Sue, for our book, Diet for a Changing Climate. Next to my soup poem, the editor added a note that more information about eating insects was available at The Bug Farm (in the UK). I also included a “poet’s note” with each poem, adding the factual background for kids. Did you know the adult Luna moth has no mouth?

Leslie: I’ve been an avid naturalist since I could peer under a rock, and fell in love with poetry in 4th grade. I studied oceanography, then social work, then inspired by a summer “bugs” course (and already writing for young readers), I combined my passions for poetry and science. Spi-Ku is my 7th science poetry collection. My research always includes “boots-on” exploration, and arachnologist Dr. Linda Rayor invited me to visit her lab at Cornell.  There I met critters I’d never even heard of (amblypygids…what?!?) and social spiders. I was hooked!

Roberta, by Cindy

Roberta: After getting my master’s degree in entomology, I worked as a research specialist at the University of Arizona. Nowadays, I’m either writing or gazing at an insect through the macro lens of my camera. With my passion for books and bugs, writing about insects seemed inevitable. To study insects, first a person needs to recognize what an insect is and how to identify the different kinds. The foundation of identification is an understanding of anatomy, so it seemed like the right place to start.

Annette: I love facts and enjoy learning about the people, places, and things in our world and celebrating my curiosity with young readers. My first “truth about” book was Whooo Knew? The Truth about Owls. When Reycraft Books chose to turn it into a series, I knew I wanted to include spiders because they are so often misunderstood. And they’re fascinating creatures. 

Sue: I am an accidental entomologist, though I will admit to a master’s degree on cockroach behavior. I’ve followed bumble bees, watched ants, tagged Monarchs. One summer day I was at an event and noticed people were avoiding the folding chairs. Small flower flies with iridescent wings perched on the warm metal, and people thought they were bees. That’s when I knew I wanted to write something about flies.

Sue ready to net more book ideas

I’ll kick off the last go-round with thoughts about writing. I have always been a list-keeper. When I was a kid I’d write down all the kinds of squirrels, lizards, trees … license plates, whatever. Now I count pollinators for the Great Sunflower Project. That makes me look closer: bee or fly? It also reminds me to be patient. Just as it takes many observations to learn to identify pollinators in my garden, it takes many drafts to understand the book I’m writing.

Chris: I particularly enjoy how poetry forces me to focus on word choice. And rhythm and rhyme! And I like how poems can engage young readers with playful language and bouncing beats. One of the best things a writer can do to improve their craft is to practice observing. Look closely, and then describe what you see. And insects are fun to watch!

Annette with Edna (exoskeleton)

Annette: Scurry, The Truth about Spiders is part of a series, so I knew it'd be in question-and-answer format like the other books. Even so, it took more than 20 drafts for me to find the right structure for Whooo Knew? The Truth About Owls! (check out her writing process here).  As for writing… we can certainly learn from the various ways spiders hunt. Some spiders build webs to catch prey. As writers, we need to trap any ideas we have by writing them down before they get away from us. Other spiders, such as jumping spiders hunt down their prey. We need to actively chase after our stories and pursue them until finished if we're going to be published. The trap-door spider creates a hole in the ground and disguises it with a trap door. It sits and waits patiently for its next meal. As writers, we must be patient with ourselves, the writing process, and certainly the publishing process. 

Roberta: Different writing ideas come to me in different formats.  How to Build an Insect arrived with an informal, conversational tone that I use during hands-on workshops for kids. (One idea for a book arrived as a graphic novel. That was scary!) I also love learning new things. With insects, so many aspects are unknown that I can discover something every single day. Writing is how I process that knowledge and find deeper understanding.

Leslie, looking for the next spider

Leslie: My books combine science poetry with short informational notes and extensive back matter. A poem can distill information into an elegant and memorable story. I organize each collection to inform at the “big idea,” topic level and explore on a more specific, “cool science story,” level. My spider observations are like patient contemplations of contextual clues. I paint a bigger picture, and also zoom in for tiny details – that may not help name the spider, but it helps me understand even more about spiders in general. 

We could talk bugs all day long… but I’m out of coffee. Check out our author websites, drop by our blogs, and remember to head outside and watch some bugs!

Find out more about Chris Mihaly at www.christymihaly.com
Check out Leslie Bulion at www.lesliebulion.com
Roberta Gibson's website is over at robertagibsonwrites.com
You can find Annette Whipple at www.annettewhipple.com
Sue Heavenrich hangs her bug net at www.sueheavenrich.com