“The Spider Lady” book signing is May 6
Book Notes
A Fascinating Story on the Spider Lady
By Glenn Dromgoole
Abilene author Penny Parker Klostermann has done it again!
Her new picture book, The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid WWII Army, goes on sale Tuesday, May 6. She will celebrate with a book launch at Texas Star Trading Company, 174 Cypress St. in downtown Abilene, from 4-5:30 p.m. that day.
Penny tells the fascinating story of Nan Songer, who learned how to harvest silk from spiders – even the poisonous black widows — to help the American military win World War II. The silk was used for crosshairs in gunsights, bombsights, periscopes, and range finders.
Songer died in 1956, but Penny tracked down a great-grandson in Oregon who shared an unpublished manuscript and other articles Songer had written. Several excerpts are included in Penny’s book.
The Spider Lady is Penny’s fourth picture book, all published by major national publishers. This one, illustrated by Philadelphia artist Anne Lambelet, was produced by Calkins Creek, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, New York ($18.99 jacketed hardcover).
It’s a story that children and adults alike will find interesting and informative.
Everyone is welcome to attend the book launch and signing. To pre-order the book, call Texas Star at (325) 672-9696 or go to the website.
