Amazon Barking Spiders Poetry for Children Buy at CJ's Online Store Alibris.com Category:  Children Publisher: originally, SterlingHouse Publisher, Inc., now me ISBN-10:  1563152215 Type: Fiction Pages: 64 Copyright: Aug 1, 2000 ISBN-13: 9781563152214 Poetry for children ... from a child's point of view. Barking Spiders Poetry for Children  is a sparkling collection of poetry written from a child's point of view.  Each poem explores life from a different topic in a manner which is as delightfully innocent and honest as the questions children ask. The unique appeal of this poetry collection is that each poem offers children an opportunity to identify personal experiences they may have had and share them with a teacher, parents, or with other relatives and friends. CJ handles each issue with the grace and assurance of one who cares and understands that children, like adults, wish to make sense of the world they live in.  She helps them see that sometimes the world just doesn't make sense and ... well, that's okay too. With a gentle, often subtle sense of humor, Barking Spiders Poetry for Children  softly transcends time and all age barriers, making it a book sure to be enjoyed by adults as well as children.     Excerpt Barking Spiders The barking spiders all march in just past dinnertime. Some big, some small, they come to call, floating on the wind behind. Each is clearly noticed, although they can’t be seen. You’re positive they’re there, though, ‘cause your nose is very keen. You know you can’t outrun ‘em, and, a net won’t get ‘em caught. Your friends laugh ‘cause they’re funny, but your mom yells ‘cause they’re not. So open all the windows! Crack the vents real fast! ‘Cause these aren’t normal spiders ... BARKING spiders are just gas.

OHIOana Quarterly
Review by Barbara Maslekoff
BARKING SPIDERS AND OTHER SUCH STUFF: CHILDREN'S POETRY by
C.J. Heck, illustrated by Michelle Lenkner, SterlingHouse Publisher, (Pittsburgh, PA),
2000. 60 pp, pb, Illus., $9.95.
If children could write poetry about the things in their lives, it might not sound like these
poems ... but the feelings they experience are sure to be familiar as they listen to this
collection.
Insights and thoughts about belly buttons, toe jam, Band-Aids, and passing gas will cause
chuckles from young readers and their parents.

Poetry Today Online
Well, it's time for a little fun, folks. Put away all those boring grownup books and let's sit
down and read Barking Spiders and Other Such Stuff. This is C.J. Heck's first book of
children's poetry and it is a delight!
CJ's poems give us all a glimpse into the wonder and honesty of being a child and surprises
us with their thought-provoking insight. Children perceive the world just as they see it and
all of us can learn lessons from these innocent perceptions.
The book covers many topics, from the question of what a barking spiders is, (the answer
is a real stinker), to whether people in heaven look at the rest of us still here through
windows.
I very much enjoyed this book and plan to read it to the little one in my life over and over.
Hope you do the same.
-- Jo Ann Miller, Poetry Book Review Writer.


Grassroots Poetry
Dear CJ,
I recently acquired your book, "Barking Spiders", from a nearby Walden's Bookstore. Just
wanted to send you a brief thanks for writing such a delightful work. The children enjoyed
it and we loved reading it to them. My 7-year old read some more tonight after school.
It's often difficult to find quality children's writing that doesn't bore the poor parent stuck
with trying to get their kids interested in reading. Not since Shel Silverstein's Light in the
Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends have I enjoyed a children's book so much. You
certainly hold well with Silverstein and Mercer Mayer as among the best of children's
writers with the ability of holding the kids' ... and parents' attention, and holding up on
repeated readings.
Sincerely,
Tom Perry