Skip to main content

Five Faves: Books About Bugs

I know many children who are fascinated by all things creepy and crawly. In fact, my family often has to pause on walks or in the backyard to watch a pill bug or a grasshopper. If you also have a young one who likes to stop and notice the small insects around us, these picture books are for you! 

By Rachel Burke 
Illustrated by Daniel Gray-Barnett 
Australia: Bright Light, an imprint of Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, 2023. Picture Book. 

In this story, a cockroach is all about art and being seen and showing his personality. The other roaches are a little nervous about that… seeing how most bugs who are noticed then are in trouble. When Craft Roach sees the owner of the house leaving, he convinces all the other bugs to get their glitter on. 

Written by Lily Murray 
Illustrated by Jenny Lovlie 
Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishing Company Inc., 2023. Picture Book. 

This is a story of a young girl who loves bugs. Her family doesn’t, and often asks her to hurry up so they can go home, instead of waiting for her to finish observing bugs. So, the girl decides to take the bugs home with her. All is well… until her small pets escape and head all over the house (and all the relatives.) 

By Terry Fan and Eric Fan 
New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021. 

The insects in this story think that the thing that fell from the sky is a wonder. Readers will understand how ordinary the object is that the bugs find fascinating; however, the insects don’t know. Then along comes a spider that decides to exploit the object and charge for other bugs to see it, which risks his friendship with the others. 

By Karl Newson 
Illustrated by Alex Willmore 
Beverly, MA: Happy Yak, an imprint of The Quarto Group, 2023. Picture Book. 

A bug named Ronald is “snug as a bug” in his bed, when he hears a knock at the door. When he opens it, a snake wants to eat Ronald. Ronald escapes only to find other creatures after him, thinking he would be a delicious snack. Eventually, this determined bug returns home and decides not to ever answer the door again (only the next knock comes from his mom!) 

By Jess Hannigan 
New York: Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2024. Picture Book. 

The wishing well is broken in this particular story. Which means that none of the town residents'  wishes will come true. They send a newsboy out to investigate, and find a spider in the well, It turns out that the spider’s web is catching all the coins from the wishes.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Review: Fowl Play

  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...

National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry

National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry Edited by J. Patrick Lewis National Geographic, 2012, 183 p. Poetry In this beautiful poetry collection, the National Children's Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis, has teamed up with the amazing photographers at National Geographic. The result is 200 poems about animals, all illustrated with stunning nature photography.  The poems are well chosen and include rhyming, free verse, and shape poetry. Some of the poems are funny, many are contemplative and all are nicely typeset on top of the full color photographs. One of my favorites is a shape poem about flamingos, with a photograph of a flock of flamingos which seem to be standing the the shape of a flamingo (how did they do that?).  Lewis ends the collection with a brief but interesting section about writing animal poetry.  This selection is sure to turn any animal lover into a poetry lover.