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Bug Patrol

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Bug Patrol
by Denise Dowling Mortensen, illustrated by Cece Bell
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. Unpaged.  Picture Book.

     Captain Bob patrols the streets of Bugland holding coffee and a cruller in two of his right "hands" and resting one of his left appendages on the steering wheel.  His first call is a Code Eleven--unruly ants swarming a donut.  Captain Bob lines them up and tells them to share.  Subsequent calls take him to beetles bumping in the parking lot of the Mall.  Speeding spiders on low-riders are probably his most hazardous call.  Off he speeds "Weee-o Weee-o Weee-o Woo," corners the miscreants, gives them a fine and a lecture, and goes about his day until its time for him to "Hurry home to my nest.  And the bugs that I love BEST!"  Officer Bug is a great guy who keeps his insect community from descending into anarchy.  Kids will love the rhyming, repetitive text and maybe the gross-out factor of roaches being relocated from a Roach Motel ("this place stinks!") to the pleasant acreage of the landfill.  Some fun.
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