Bugtown Boogie

by Warren Hanson, Lou Fancher (Illustrator), Steve Johnson (Illustrator)

I was strollin’ on home through the woods the other night,
When I saw something a-flashin'—it was shining mighty bright!
It was blinkin' and a-winkin' near the bottom of a tree,
So I scurried on over just to see what I could see.

On his way home, a little boy happens upon a magical door to a tiny bugtown where termites play the trumpet, centipedes dance, and the Queen Bee announces that everyone in her kingdom should "Boogie down!"

Warren Hanson's rhyming, rhythmic read-aloud, filled with bug sounds and dance moves, jives with Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher's rockin' art for jammin' insect adventure.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2008

Reviews

[Cosette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book rhymes, included weird insect noises, and my daughter fell asleep before I finished it. What's not to love?

[April Heim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is our favorite family book. We loved to read it aloud and our child loved to hear it. The words themselves create the jazzy musical background to the wonderfu rhymes describing how the bugs dance.
Spoiler alert... our child is now a 12 year old boy that loves to read!!

[Joshua Krieger · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hanson, W., Johnson, S., & Fancher, L. (2008). Bugtown Boogie. New York: Laura Geringer Books.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the concept of a Bug dance party is fun, the execution here is only so-so. The rhyming descriptions of the dancers towards the middle of the book are lots of fun, but the early description of the discovery of the dance is not as good. The illustrations as done by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher are really busy which can make it hard to tell what's going on precisely; some of the spreads work better than others. Again, the middle of the book is where the strength lies when we get some close-ups on specific bugs. I like the idea of including the bug noises, but when I went to read this to my group I was a little thrown by some of them. What exactly is "freega, freega" supposed to sound like? Is it supposed to be a bug's noise or just nonsense-type words? Perhaps if I knew more about bug noises I would understand that better. As a group read, I thought it was fine, but not a standout. I probably wouldn't use it for grade school children again; I might try it with preschoolers.

[Gretchen Rosch · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. This book is about a little boy who is out walking later at night. He saw a bunch of little lights, and decided to check it out. When he approached the lights he saw that this was a group of a bunch of different bugs. This was called the "bugtown boogie"

2. This would be appropriate for 3rd graders.

3. I would use this in reading class to introduce rhyming words to students.

4. Individuals who would read this would be ones that have any sort of interest in bugs.

5. This could be used in small groups and the students would read this book and then on their own try and rhyme words.

6. This could be used for the whole class as an easier introduction to poetry.

7. Warren Hanson has several books released that would be appropriate for this grade/age.

8. There is a youtube video where Warren Hanson is singing along to this book. That would be a great alternative to reading the book aloud to students.

[Kylee Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a boy who came across a light at the bottom of a tree. He went to take a look and he discovered a “bugtown boogie” going on inside the trunk of the tree. Bugs of all sorts were gathered in that tree to dance the night away. They partied all night until the queen bee came down. They were all on their best behavior for the queen bee, until she yelled “boogie down!” and everyone started to dance until the sun came up.

This is a great example of a book that can be used to teach rhyming words. It is a wordy book so it is best to be read aloud while also allowing students to stop and talk about rhyming words in the book. They can also implement the use of rhyming words into their own writing to make it more interesting and more fun!

[Marisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great rhythm to this book -- would make a great read aloud. Too bad I didn't find this earlier in the summer -- perfect for the SRP theme this year!

"Out there in the middle was a colony of ants,
And they were shaking their behinds
Like they had people in their pants!
Black ants. Red ants. I new saw so many.
I'll bet there were about a million-thousand-hundred-twenty!"

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

You have to read it more than a few times for the swinging rhymes to really sink in and grab you. I too might have given it a middling review, if I had not read it to my son over and over. It's a GREAT read-aloud for a group, and though the illustrations are weird at first ((bugs whose heads look like microphones!!), I've seen several kids REALLY get into them.

[Jennie]

A young boy notices lights at the bottom of a tree trunk, as he takes a closer look he discovers Bugtown having a dance. The author create rhythm and names a variety of bugs that are at the dance, encouraging students to check out nonfiction. gr. K-4.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

great for readaloud. will try for preschool outreach. great rhythm. bugs are having a party and a little boy observes.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good bug book for older kids, maybe K-3.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are beautiful, they really capture the light well, but the text is very poor and the rhyming does not work at all.

[Alisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to put this on the list only for the pages that Collin loves. He loves the super big bug and he likes to say "bugtown boogie". Not that the story is super great, but it's a fun bug book.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Music/jazz

Could be fun read-aloud

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed listening to this book on the site: http://www.readtomelv.com/current-boo...

[Christen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard not to sing the story, it's got an infectious cadence. In my box for my Rhythm and Music storytime.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute

[Tina B · Rating 3 out of 5]

"bugs, dance, told in rhythmic verse, onomatopoeia"