The Good Bug: A Celebration of Insects – and What We Can Do to Protect Them

by George McGavin

Following on from the success of The Good Bee, this beautifully illustrated celebration of insects by leading entomologist George McGavin highlights the pivotal role they play in our ecosystems, and what we can do to help them survive and thrive.Written by entomologist, conservationist and author George McGavin, this is a celebration of our marvellous minibeasts, highlighting how important they are to the survival of all life on Earth, exploring why many are currently under threat and what we can do to help them thrive. This book will look at what insects do, from vital recycling to pollination to maintaining soil fertility and providing a main food source for animals further up the food chain, to what we’re doing as humans to threaten their habitats, and finally what we can do to protect them – following a similar structure and approach to The Good Bee, in the same beautiful gift format.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature

192 pages, Hardcover

Published October 22, 2024

About the author

George McGavin, a renowned entomologist, is an honorary research associate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Department of Zoology of Oxford University. He has several insect species named in his honor. He lives in England.

Reviews

[Tilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I am a huge nature lover and bugs in general really intrigue me. They have such interesting little lives and there are SO many different species to discover. So I was looking forward to reading this book to find out more about them and "celebrate" insects in general.

The Good Bug is split into 4 Chapters/sections. The first is "The Nature of Insects" which starts off by looking into the history of insects on earth and how they came to be. It also looks into the biological structure of some bugs as well as their stages of growth/development. It is the main biological chapter and I found it to be a rather interesting read although I did feel more information and detail could have been included.
The second chapter is "Insects and Humans". This section looks into our interactions with insects through the years. From being used as important symbols to how they are starting to come back onto the menu for meat eaters. The most interesting section is this for me was how insects have been useful to humans in many ways including food, medicine, waste disposal and even making some of the clothes we wear (silk). On the other side is how isects have caused harm to humans, mainly focusing on the plague through fleas from infected rats and malaria from mosquitos.
Chapter 3 is called "Insects Under Threat" and talks about how our over developed and intensively farmer world are devastating insect numbers and species. Not only does it look into threats such as insecticides and habitat devastation but also invading insects that humans introduce to ecosystems both consciously and unconsciously.
Chapter 4 is called "Insects and How We Can Help Them". One of the main ways stated is by eating less meat/becoming a vegetarian to both reduce habitat destruction for livestock feed but also to reduce your carbon emissions. Other ways to help include creating isnect friendly gardens (NO astroturf!) and by helping conservation organisations.

I found this little book to be a really good opener for someone looking to know more about insects, celebrate them and learn how to help them. For me, the information was well thought out and an easy read but personally I would want more biological information. However I have read a lot of book on insects so an not likely the target audience. Still, I really enjoyed reading it and thought the author wrote it very well and made the information super accessible and interesting for new readers.

Overall, a very good little book on insects that I would recommend to people that want to start learning a bit about these amazing creatures as a whole.

Please note that I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Flynn W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little book about bugs!! Nice, fun, fast read

[Dilana Angel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend, I recommend, I recommend!!! This book is for everyone, for people who love insects, and those who hate them or just don’t care about them that much. Its really interesting and nicely written. It’s not only about insects, but also a lot about nature and ecology. This book contains information that everyone should just know, but most people don’t know. it’s about the importance of our world, nature and animals and if we don’t learn about it and learn to protect it, the human race will go instinct pretty soon. We find ourselves in a climate crisis right now. Besides the information this book provides, it also gives us things that we can do to protect nature and thus our own health and wellbeing. This is an eye-opening book definitely everyone should read. We are all a part of nature.

[Arvid · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up
Very well written and interesting for someone who is only starting to read about bugs! Would've liked to read a little more about soecific bugs, and the nonsense about overpopulation was a bit strange, but otherwise I really recommend this book for everyone :)

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never been a huge fan of insects, especially the flying kind. But I'm a huge believer in reducing our carbon footprint and doing our bit for climate change, so I appreciate how essential they are to the eco system. Despite that, this book really opened my eyes to the huge part insects play in our fragile eco-system and reminded me of the scary reality of the affect we are having on the planet. I'm quite lucky as I live in a rural area, but even so, human impacts can be felt even here.

I remember watching George McGavin on TV and love how passionate he is about bugs. He relishes in describing them in such detail in the book (including the bits we'd sometimes rather not know but are oddly fascinating!) Easy to read, with nice headings, short chapters and great illustrations, I got through this surprisingly quickly. A hugely important book which will encourage anyone to get out into nature and start planting trees!