What are arachnids? How do spiders differ from harvestmen, pseudoscorpions, mites, and ticks? What makes the arachnid species that are unique to Aotearoa so special? How are webs made? How do they hunt prey, eat, and defend themselves? Where do they live? Which are venomous? Which can you find in your house? What makes some arachnids the stuff of nightmares? In this fun-filled, fact-rich, and highly illustrated book, award-winning science writer Simon Pollard and Te Papa spider expert Phil Sirvid share the magic, secrets, mysteries, and marvels of Aotearoa New Zealand's abundance of eight-legged beasties, from microscopic mites to spiders as large as your hand. They also profile some of the men and women who have helped build our knowledge in this area.

Joe is a friendly spider who would rather dance than spin webs. It reinforces the idea that it is okay to be different and giving to others brings happiness.

Most often a pupil's difficulty is not because of technic deficiency but is due to weak note recognition. Consistent use of these drills will help your student to become a good note reader.

Spider thinks he is a celebrity. Why you ask? Because if anyone sees him, they scream with "delight." This charming tale shows that your perspective on life, no matter how misconstrued, can keep you confident in any situation.

A rip-roaring read-aloud (shout-aloud) picture book about a spider who wants to be the family pet from the internationally acclaimed illustrator of Julia Donaldson’s What the Ladybird Heard. Spider wants to be a family pet. But the family whose house he lives in are terrified of him. Whenever he tries to show them what a great pet he would make, they simply cry: ”AAAARRGGHH, Spider!” The illustrator of Julia Donaldson’s famous titles such as The Singing Mermaid and The Rhyming Rabbit proves she is an author in her own right with this best-selling picture book story.

Opera singer. Adventuress. American abroad. Irene Adler is all of this...and is also the only woman to ever have outwitted the great man, Sherlock Holmes. In Carole Nelson Douglas's novel Spider Dance, Irene has finally come home after numerous adventures, not out of loyalty to her native shores but because of a baffling puzzle, and the one thing that haunts her. Irene has no real memory of her childhood and has spent most of her life creating a persona to fit her passions. When Daredevil reporter Nelly Bly lures Irene to America by hinting that she knows of Irene's parentage, Irene takes the bait and in doing so, embarks upon a pursuit of the most notorious woman of the nineteenth century. Before the intrigue-ridden quest is over, Irene will uncover murderous international political conspiracies, lost treasure, and finally . . . the full, shocking secret of her birth. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A young zombie gives a haunting performance in her first ballet dance recital.

A richly illustrated and up-close look at the secret lives of spiders and other arachnids The American Southwest is home to an extraordinary diversity of arachnids, from spitting spiders that squirt silk over their prey to scorpions that court one another with kissing and dancing. Amazing Arachnids presents these enigmatic creatures as you have never seen them before. Featuring a wealth of color photos of more than 300 different kinds of arachnids from eleven taxonomic orders--both rare and common species—this stunningly illustrated book reveals the secret lives of arachnids in breathtaking detail, including never-before-seen images of their underground behavior. Amazing Arachnids covers all aspects of arachnid biology, such as anatomy, sociality, mimicry, camouflage, and venoms. You will meet bolas spiders that lure their victims with fake moth pheromones, fishing spiders that woo their mates with silk-wrapped gifts, chivalrous cellar spiders, tiny mites, and massive tarantulas, as well as many others. Along the way, you will learn why arachnids are living fossils in some respects and nimble opportunists in others, and how natural selection has perfected their sensory structures, defense mechanisms, reproductive strategies, and hunting methods. Covers more than 300 different kinds of arachnids, including ones new to science Features more than 750 stunning color photos Describes every aspect of arachnid biology, from physiology to biogeography Illustrates courtship and mating, birth, maternal care, hunting, and defense Includes first-ever photos of the underground lives of schizomids and vinegaroons Provides the first organized guide to macroscopic mites, including photos of living mites for easy reference

A genre-defying page turner that fuses thriller and speculative fiction with dark fantasy in a hidden world in the heart of Cold War Europe. THE TRUE COLD WAR IS FOUGHT ON THE BORDERS OF THIS WORLD, AT THE EDGES OF THE LIGHT. It's 1965 and Christopher Winter is trying to carve a new life, a new identity, beyond his days in British Intelligence. Recruited by London's gangland he now finds himself on the wrong side of the law - and about to discover that the secret service has a way of claiming back its own. Who is the fatally alluring succubus working honeytraps for foreign paymasters? What is the true secret of the Shadowless, a fabled criminal cabal deadlier than the Mafia? And why do both parties covet long- buried caskets said to hold the hearts of kings? Winter must confront the buried knowledge of his own past to survive - but is he ready to embrace the magic that created the darkness waiting there?

The ability to speak and write effectively is widely recognized as an important skill in many contexts and for many purposes, both personal, educational and professional. Because these skills are considered important in second and foreign language learning contexts, they are often included in performance assessments. The scoring of such performances is, however, a complex undertaking and has attracted much attention, both in first and second language learning contexts. The increasing use of automated scoring systems has added to this complexity in recent years. It is therefore all the more surprising that there is no book available that provides an overview of this topic area - the scoring of second language performances. This monograph fills this gap, by drawing together the latest literature in the area. It focusses on issues relating to both rater-mediated assessments and sets out consideration in relation to automated scoring systems (and other technology) which are increasingly used in our field. This monograph provides a useful introduction to graduate students, researchers, test developers, other practitioners and teachers to this topic which has in many ways dominated the field of language assessment over many decades.