Some Bugs

by Angela DiTerlizzi, Brendan Wenzel (Illustrator)

"I love this book's bright illustrations of big-eyed bugs that make even the ugliest of them cute. The simple rhyming text pairs perfectly with the pictures." - Seira Wilson, Amazon Editor

Get the buzz on bugs in this picture book from Angela DiTerlizzi!

Grab your magnifying glass!
Find your field guide!
And come hop, hide, swim, and glide
through this buggy backyard world!

Featuring insects including butterflies and moths, crickets and cicadas, bumblebees and beetles, this zippy rhyming exploration of backyard-bug behavior is sure to have insect enthusiasts of all ages bugging out with excitement!

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Nature, Childrens, Animals, Science, Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 4, 2014

About the author

Angela DiTerlizzi is a mom, wife, and author who loves writing books for children. Her picture books include Some Pets, Some Bugs, Baby Love, and Just Add Glitter. She and her husband, bestselling author/illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, reside with their daughter in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Massively underrated picture book. I've had three kids who loved this, starting around 6 months and, for the older two, lasting through the toddler and preschool years. I'm not ashamed to say I know every word of this book by heart! 🤣

The illustrations are really cute and the rhyming is fun. The words are very simple and well-suited for babies, but the detailed pictures and catchy rhythm work for kids a few years older too. The "some bugs take" page showing the ants stealing food from the picnic basket has mesmerised all three of my kids.

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book features a fun, rhyming text to introduce the kiddos to a kaleidoscopic plethora of bugs, and encourages youngsters to look for, and examine insects on their own. Here's another title, however, that would be NOTHING without the illustrations.








These are by Brendan Wenzel, Caldecott winner for They All Saw a Cat, and they are SPECTACULAR!

Hopefully some children who are squeamish about bugs will be inspired to observe the marvels of the insect world.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun! The rhyming text is lively and the illustrations really take the spotlight. My kids spent a long time poring over the pages looking for all the bugs on each page and cross-referencing with the labeled bug illustrations in the back. This is not a particularly "informational" book in that you don't really learn much about the different types of bugs and there's no bibliography or suggestions for further reading... it's more of an invitation to find, enjoy and celebrate bugs in your backyard and that, of course, is a type of education, too.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Bugs has A LOT of bugs! Bugs flying, fluttering, biting and buzzing around the pages. So many bugs to see!

Cute colorful bugs with friendly eyes and smiles. The ants had my favorite page with their underground tunnels. Up and down under the ground!

Angela DiTerlizzi and Brendan Wenzel combine forces—words & pictures—to introduce readers to the bugs living in and around backyards. This book captures the energy and curiosity of scouring the ground for movement and color and sound. Fun energy! What was that noise? Did that stick just wiggle? Haha…Go look! Look high and low for water striders, scorpions!!!, red velvet mites, and stink bugs. Well….maybe not stink bugs. ;)

A fun summer book to get kids outside exploring.

[Angelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to bugs (even if they are not your favourite)!

[Dani ❤️ Perspective of a Writer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out more Picture book reviews @ Perspective of a Writer...

A field guide to what some bugs do! With a page naming all the bugs that were part of the drawings.

The illustrations are so beautiful for this book they could seriously be posters for a kid's room! The illustrations totally make the book what it is. I loved the larger animals included in the spreads to show scale as well as the different sized bugs from the tiny flies to the big beetles.

My nephew enjoyed this book and we talked about what was happening in many of the spreads (like the ant hill!) and we talked about the verbs used to describe what the bugs do.

So cute, I would run out and buy this for any child who is curious about bugs. We actually read this digitally and there was a read along function for it too. My nephew benefits from repetition so it was great to listen then read it together! The narration was very good and super fun. This is not a message book but is the stimulate creativity and a love for the outdoors.

BOTTOM LINE: So much bug fun!!

______________________
You can find this review and many others on my book blog @ Perspective of a Writer. See my picture book reviews in a special feature called Boo's Picture Gallery...

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Some bugs sting. / Some bugs bite. / Some bugs stink. / And some bugs fight!" And so begins the sing-song narrative of Some Bugs, a lovely picture-book exploration of the insect life to be found in a child's backyard. A brief text - no more than a sentence per page - is paired here with vividly colorful illustrations depicting various bugs. The book concludes with a girl and her cat, who have been the ones examining all the insects under discussion, and a final page in which each one is identified.

Recommended by no less a picture-book luminary than Eric Carle, whose words of praise - "a delightful combination of pictures and words that will captivate readers" - dovetails with my own view on the matter, Some Bugs is the kind of natural history for younger children that I like to see. Beautiful illustrations paired with an engaging but simple text, with more information (in the form of the page identifying the various insects) at the rear. I was reminded of Diana Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long's series of natural history picture-books, from An Egg Is Quiet to A Butterfly Is Patient , and that is high praise indeed! Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books celebrating nature, and all the little creatures to be found therein!

[Emma Refvem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooo cute and fun

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Added: Fabulous book trailer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhtFq...

Angela DiTerlizzi does a wonderful author talk! Perfect for kids in Kindergarten and 1st grade! If she's in your area, it's well worth it to hear her talk about her writing.

A beautifully done rhyming book about bugs. While details are added to the bugs to make them cute, the general shape and structures are accurate. The last two pages include all of the bugs from the story along with their common names.

Recommended for preschool through kindergarten, this is a fun, rhyming text perfect for a read aloud.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adorable bug illustrations. You'll have fun naming all the little critters.

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not particularly helpful in teaching youngsters. Firstly, when you call everything from a dog tick to a bumblebee to a monarch caterpillar to a scorpion a "bug," you haven't taught anything and actually have probably made readers more confused. Why can't a more scientific definition be used (insects of the order Hemiptera, with mouths designed for sucking)? Butterflies and bumblebees and beetles are not bugs. And scorpions certainly aren't - they aren't even insects; they are arachnids, like spiders.

Of the 46 named at the back of the book, here's the score. It's not good.

NOT BUGS - moths/butterflies, beetles, bees/ants, and more
Woolly bear caterpillar (Lepidoptera)
Monarch caterpillar (Lepidoptera)
Monarch butterfly (Lepidoptera)
Lunate Zale moth (Lepidoptera)
Grapeleaf skeletonizer moth (Lepidoptera)
Hummingbird hawk moth (Lepidoptera)
Gypsy moth (Lepidoptera)
Poplar sphinx caterpillar (Lepidoptera)

Two-spotted ladybug (Coleoptera)
Eyed click beetle (Coleoptera)
Hercules beetle (Coleoptera)
Sunburst diving beetle (Coleoptera)
Whirligig beetle (Coleoptera)
Boll weevil (Coleoptera)

American bumblebee (Hymenoptera)
Honeybee (Hymenoptera)
Yellow jacket (Hymenoptera)
Silky ant (Hymenoptera)

Lubber grasshopper (Orthoptera)
Angle-wing katydid (Orthoptera)
Field cricket (Orthoptera)

Walking stick (Phasmatodea)
Timema (Phasmatodea)

Greenhouse thrip (nymph) (Thysanoptera)
Snake fly (Raphidoptera)
Halloween pennant dragonfly (Odonata)
Caddisfly (Trichoptera)
Dog flea (Siphonaptera)
Chinese mantis (Mantodea)
Horsefly (Diptera)
Green lacewing (Neuroptera)
Earwig (Dermaptera)

NOT EVEN INSECTS!
Marbled orb weaver (Araneae - arachnids)
Dog tick (Ixodida - arachnids)
Red velvet mite (Trombidiformes - arachnids)
Scorpion (Scorpiones - arachnid)
Pill bug (Isopoda - crustaceans)

Springtail (illustration could be Poduromorpha, but regardless, springtails (Collembola) are no longer considered insects)

YES! EIGHT TRUE BUGS!
Periodical cicada
Water strider
Green stinkbug
White fly
Wheel bug
Pink aphid
Buffalo treehopper
Scarlet-and-green leafhopper

So, there are indeed some bugs in this book. But 38 of the 46 are not bugs. Considering there are more than 50,000 species of true bugs, it's not like anyone was going to run out of choices.

Now, I don't believe the author or illustrator really bothered to consider a more scientific definition, but even a colloquial definition of "a small insect" fails for a number of these. And considering that kids probably do already make a distinction between beetles and butterflies and spiders, this sloppy conflation makes things worse rather than better.

What is it that bugs do? Sucking. This is their defining characteristic. Unfortunately, that word does not appear at all in the litany of: "Stinging, biting, stinking, fighting, hopping, gliding, swimming, hiding, building, making, hunting, taking - bugs are oh-so-fascinating!" (And yes, that was an attempt at rhyming "making" and "taking" with "fascinating" so true rhyme isn't in the cards here either.)

[Carmen Vicari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im Garten gibt es viel Leben, nur bei manchem muss man etwas genauer hinsehen, um es entdecken zu können. Kleinere Kinder sind da noch näher dran und schauen auch etwas genauer hin.

Dieses Buch unterstützt die Kinder bei ihrem Entdeckerdrang, fordert sie auf, regt sie an und erklärt auf spielerische Weise.

Meine kleine Tochter(3) war gleich begeistert von dem Buch. Die Illustrationen sind sehr ansprechend. Zeigen die Insekten, verniedlichen diese aber etwas und bilden sie kindgerecht ab. Ein Bild beinhaltet viele Details, die man gemeinsam mit dem Kind entdecken kann. Ein kleiner Spruch weißt auf die Besonderheiten hin. So geht es im Reim von einem zum nächsten Insekt weiter, immer quer durch den Garten. Die Farben sind kräftig, das Buch ist kunterbunt, ohne überladen zu sein. Eine Tochter konnte es gut erfassen und hat sich auch schon einige Male alleine mit dem Buch beschäftigt.

Auf der letzten Doppelseite sieht man im Überblick alle im Buch vorkommenden Insekten. Dies dient zwar vorrangig der Information, da man auch nachlesen kann, um welches Insekt es sich handelt, wir haben aber ein kleines Spiel daraus gemacht: Wo findet sich ein bestimmtes Insekt im Buch?

Fazit:
Ein tolles Buch für kleine und große Entdecker, wundervoll gestaltet und mit einfachen, kindgerechten Reimen versehen, zum selbstentdecken oder gemeinsamen ansehen.

[Jonathan Scordino · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 21 month old gets very into this book. The book has a key at the end with the name of many of the bug species in the book (it may have all the bugs). My daughter is learning the big names and seems them out on the pages.

[Cathy Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some Bugs is an awesome book!! I bought it for my collection of children’s books but I had to give it away to a sweet little outdoorsy friend! The illustrations are amazing, the words are catchy and endearingly simplistic. I will be purchasing this book again & again! It’s a great addition to every young readers library.

[Rachael Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short sentences on each page. Focuses on what bugs do (bite, glide, swim, etc.) Cute and very detailed illustrations.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful book that is beautifully illustrated. My kids loved trying to pronounce the bug names. Reading and learning is always amazing.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vibrant, cute, a must for young bug enthusiasts. Both my toddler and my kindergartner were fans.

[Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac's visual interest 👀 (3 is top): untested 

How good it is as a book for me to read aloud while breastfeeding 🍼 (3 is top): 🍼🍼🍼

So cute!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent opportunity to share many insects and arachnids with my second graders before they start studying bugs.

[Walter Ullon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun rhymes and awesome illustrations. I'm particularly fond of the bug identification key at the end of the book.

But by far the best part of it is that I get to impersonate "Treebeard" himself halfway through: "Gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning..."

If you know, you know.

[Ioana Johansson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kid loves it! We use every action (sting, bite, hop, swim etc.) on his body and he laughs and tries to imitate me. He looks for the ladybug on every page and he liked to find the frogs and when he sees the cat he meows:)))
I think the illustrations are fantastic and the tiny, sturdy format works great for a one year old.

[Nicole Clear · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some bugs is a short book with simple rhyming about bugs and the noises they make. It can be related to everyday experiences in Understanding the World through exploring their local environment. The pictures are inviting and interesting with lots of opportunity to link to Physical development with acting out different insect movement, music for different insect noises and artistic creations. A whole themed week on insects and small creatures in the garden could be created from this book in the EYFS using the book to support activities in all of the 7 development areas. There is a lovely picture page at the back using the names of all the mini beasts that children can then use to go on a mini beasts hunt in their own environment.

[Kate McGinty aka Caryn Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rhyming text describes the qualities of numerous insects, accompanied by gorgeous -- and delightfully quirky -- illustrations. A colorful index at the back shows each type of bug, along with its name. The book has a sense of celebration, of appreciation and wonder for the bugs, making them seem special and interesting instead of icky and gross. The A/B/A/B rhyme scheme sets students up for predicting the end of the second couplet before they turn the page to see it, making it good for practicing such reading skills as rhyming or predicting. This would also be great for use in a science unit, perhaps as an introduction to a section on insects, or before a field trip where students may be searching a habitat for creatures to study.

[Maggi Rohde · Rating 5 out of 5]

We begin this review with the consideration of why Brendan Wenzel's illustrations are so damn cute. Cuteness researcher (really an ethologist) Konrad Lorenz identified a set of traits that cause human beings to think something is cute. We're apparently hardwired for it. Large head, large eyes, rounded shape all contribute to the cuteness factor, and Brendan Wenzel's animals have it in spades.

I'm not just talking about the bugs in this book, either. Wenzel has done illustrations of bazillions of animals for conservation organizations and companies promoting the welfare of animals.

Every library serving children of any age needs this book.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most adorably illustrated bugs I've ever seen. This is a must for bug lovers. They rhyming works very well. And all the bugs identified at the end is a plus. Will be fun, quick addition to have in a storytime.

7/22/15 I decided to have them use their finger(s) and recreate the actions mentioned in the book for the bugs. They really enjoyed that. And at the end I showed them the page of all the bugs and pointed out a few of them. Then I had them tell me what their favorite bugs were. Funny that I couldn't then remember what mine was, even though our craft was my favorite bug--fireflies!!

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the cover a lot, but the inside illustrations are so busy. I believe children will like poring over them, but they sort of made my eyes glaze over.

Bugs are neat, so I like a book that encourages interest. I think too many children can get turned off by the creepy-crawly aspect, even if they do have an interest. I've put a lot of effort into not being skeeved out by bugs, or at least not showing it in front of children, because it's really rather silly to be so grossed out by them, especially when they cause no harm whatsoever. Now it breaks my heart to see insects killed. It really makes me very sad!

Anyway, nice book. Plainer than I thought, but nice.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh...YES. YES!

Some bugs do this, some bugs do that. Hop like a grasshopper, buzz like a bee! And the verbs are grouped - movement, sound, food gathering, defense strategy. SO SMART.

The bug illustrations hit just the right spot - enough detail to ensure that each bug is identifiable as what it is, but abstract enough not to let that detail get distracting, and with googly eyes to make 'em cute.

Fun for storytime, fun for older readers too. WITH an identification key in the back.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. The word use is solid and the illustrations cute. BUT virtually none of the creatures shown are actually bugs. Plus, ladybird beetles neither click nor sing. Children are capable of learning proper information about the world; unfortunately, they are also able to learn incorrect information. This book generally provides the latter.

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some Bugs has bright, beautiful illustrations. There are only a few words per page, which allows for a lot of discussion. (Which bugs hide? Which bugs glide?). Perfect for an insect themed storytime.

Great for storytime.

[Drew Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some bugs are this, some bugs are that.

Bugs aren't nearly as cute and cuddly as pets, but this is still a really interesting book with lots to look at and really colorful, stylized yet detailed illustrations.