Backyard Bug Battle

A Buzz Beaker Brainstorm

by Scott Nickel, Andy J. Smith (Illustrator)

Buzz spills an invention of his Dad's super-fast grow juice, and creates gigantic insects and flowers. Written in graphic-novel format.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fiction

33 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2006

About the author

Growing up, Scott Nickel wanted to be a comic book writer or a mad scientist. As an adult, he gets to do both. In his secret literary lab, Scott has created more than a dozen graphic novels for Stone Arch Books featuring time travel, zombies, robots, giant insects, and mutant lunch ladies. Scott's NIGHT OF THE HOMEWORK ZOMBIES received the 2007 Golden Duck award for Best Science Fiction Picture Book.

When not creating crazy comics, Scott squeezes in a full-time job as a writer and editor at Jim Davis' Garfield studio.

Check out Scott’s monstrously funny syndicated comic strip, EEK!, at Go Comics: http://www.gocomics.com/eek/

Reviews

[Ellye baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Backyard Bug Battle is an amazing book because it where a boy named buzz makes solution or something close to that and his dad is a scientist so he make a hole bunch of stuff and buzz made a juice and his dad made a growing solution and they are the same color and buzz grabbed the solution instead of the drink he made but then he slipped and spilled the growing solution on the plant and they grown and bug started attaching buzz and his dad and his friend named Larry.

[Ellyza Marthadicta · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son loves the story since it’s easy to follow and full of imagination :)

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buzz Beaker in Backyard Bug Battle is a kid scientist who concocts goo to keep pesky bugs from harming his plants, but he accidentally spills his father’s fast-growing liquid on the plants instead. Chaos ensues when his plants and the bugs grow into giants, and he and his friend find ingenious and humorous ways to trap them. Children in grades two through six will enjoy this funny graphic novel. The text is short and easy to read. The colorful illustrations add meaning to the story, extend the text, and provide an opportunity to develop visual literacy. After the story, the author supplies a glossary of invented terms found in the story and more advanced words to improve a child's vocabulary. Then there is a section of discussion questions and writing prompts that correspond to the story to stretch a child's imagination and scientific thinking.

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm beginning to think that the Stone Arch series of books must all be awful, although this might have improved slightly over the disappearing pet book. The art was okay but felt very "tv-ish" which maybe translates to bright and banal. The story was okay, but instead of coming up with an innovative way to deal with the over sized bugs they created by accident, all they do is fight them until they can subdue them. I do like that the protagonist and his father are African American but found the book over all too much like a bad tv cartoon.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

We picked this book up at our public library.

This book was funny, what happens when you spill the wrong juice on plants? Well they become bigger along with the insects! My son thought this was just really funny, and his favorite part was the ending where the fleas were the biggest. He wants to actually go and check out another book by this author and see if there are anymore insects or animals that become big.

It is considered a graphic novel that is good for 7+ in my opinion, nothing scary but little kids may not know what is really going on with the big bugs.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this one and it was terrible -- I don't know if it was just the recording or the book, but the recording had several people voicing parts -- even well-known characters, and the story was just very weak and predictable.

[Jaime Taggart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very imaginative. The kids enjoyed it. This is the first comic book I have been able to read all the way through and not get totally annoyed or bored.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read aloud graphic novel! The girls and boys will love this and it could be used during a bug/insect unit as a writing prompt!