Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest

by Timothy J. Bradley

What could be creepier than a 390 million-year-old cockroach? How about a 320 million-year-old millipede that's seven feet long! These crawlies and their many-legged cousins are featured in this follow-up to Paleo Sharks.

Genres: Prehistory, Science, Nonfiction, Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

Published April 16, 2008

About the author

Award-winning, self-taught author/illustrator, published in both fiction and nonfiction. My books for kids are about nonfiction subjects like natural history and biology, and science fiction that is fast-paced and fun. My first novel, INFESTATION, is available from Scholastic.

I'm also an illustrator and designer of toys, museum exhibits, and compelling sci-fi and natural history imagery.

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well and indeed, textually speaking, Timothy J. Bradley's 2008 middle grade non fiction picture book Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest is informationally extensive (perhaps a bit densely penned and with some mildly annoying scientific jargon to be encountered but fortunately not too overly exaggerated), delightfully thoroughly researched and also presented by Timothy J. Bradley in a storytelling type of manner that draws young readers right into prehistoric times but without this ever becoming and feeling silly or ridiculous. And while my older adult self sometimes does feel a bit talked down at by the author making his sections on diverse prehistoric arthropods like actual stories of animal biographies, my inner child really and truly has majorly loved loved loved Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest, and with my adult self certainly very much appreciating all of the scientific, paleontological information and details being presented, and with the simply excellent (and multiple) bibliographies being the absolute icing on an already most excellent and tasty reading cake.

And yes, even with Timothy J. Bradley textually presenting much of the contents of Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest like a story and sometimes also like a bit of a horror story of ancient arthropods acting like predators and prey, eating and being eaten, he also and fortunately never once loses sight of the fact that Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest is scientific in scope and as such a totally non fiction introduction to ancient, to prehistoric insects, spiders, millipedes, crustaceans etc. (and that some of these animals, like dragonflies, cockroaches and horseshoe crabs are in fact still with us today, and have not changed all that much in appearance for over 300 million years, except perhaps getting a bit smaller in size). Four stars for Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest and generally warmly recommended, and the only reason for me not rating Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest with five stars is that for one, I do find the accompanying illustrations rather garish and the font size of the printed words a bit too tiny for my ageing eyes, and for two, I really wish that Timothy J. Bradley were not using the rather heavy with judgment superlative of the adjective "creepy" in his book title.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

As close to perfect as one can get for youth science informative texts. It starts off with "A Word About the Art," explaining how scientists and artists use a combination of guesswork and comparison to modern creatures to analyze ancient creatures. This is a question my students ask frequently so it's refreshing to see it right off the bat! Next it gives a brief explanation of the prehistoric timeline and how the creatures will be divided by their time: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. Each section uses full-color illustrations of exciting scenes while also including boxes connecting the highlighted creatures to modern ones and a handy size comparison to children, i.e. "Explorers."
It includes phonetic name guides and brief overviews of the animals, which include scientific terms but are very clear in their definitions so it's not too advanced or jargon heavy. It finishes with a glossary, further reading lists for both younger and older readers (which I will certainly be checking out), and a bibliography.

I will certainly be using this in my classroom! It's perfect for units on prehistoric animals and students who simply love bugs.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully informative text reviewing the evolution of anthropods. Great for kids who love bugs and aren't intimidated by scientific patois. Bradley includes pronunciations for vernacular and doesn't dumb down descriptions. For this reason, I'd really recommend it for older elementary. I only wish there could have been something closer to an "actual size" illustration for the smaller anthropods (some of the illustrations come close), though this wish only stems from Bradley's illustrations that compare anthropods to readers' hands (a more than sufficient and awesome inclusion).

Includes information about paleoart (and specifically the illustrations in the book), a glossary, further reading, and sources. No index, although the TOC at the beginning is descriptive enough that it would be unnecessary. The text plants kids in a "paleo" world, and the conclusion extends the idea into today.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book that talks about the gigantic and not so gigantic bugs that lived in the age of the dinosaurs. Especially like how the would draw a silhouette of a child and then the bugs silhouette next to it for comparison.

Fantastic illustrations.

[Alissa Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Informational
Grade Level: 3rd-7th grade
Any child who loves insects, bugs, or spiders will love this about prehistoric paleo bugs. The book would be perfect for any science paper. Children will love the realistic illustrations based from the fossils found by paleontologists. The book also has a glossary in the back of the book. Children should also be encouraged to read this book for their own personal enjoyment.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear and easy to comprehend. I appreciated the pronunciations being listed next to the animals names. I used it to explain how to decode big words with my students. The preface that it the art is an educated guess of how the animals might have looked was refreshing. We were able to compare illustrations of the creatures with other books and talk about how we know what extinct animals looked like.

[Haley Hoenke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Science, Nature

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative and very creepy to those of us a bit put off by bugs and insects.

[Rhett Baerlocher]

Non-fiction
This book is a non fiction book about animals that have gone extinct. Something that is really neat about this book is that on some pages it will have a picture showing the actual size of the animals. The pictures are great and there is a ton of information.