My Awesome Summer by P. Mantis

A Nature Diary Series #1

by Paul Meisel

Get a bug's-eye-view on the life cycle of the praying mantis, in this hilarious, scientifically accurate Nature Diary following an insect through her whole summer.

Finalist for the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books

"May 17: I was born today! It's a beautiful, sunny spring day!"

This is the diary of P. Mantis, one of 150 brothers and sisters born on a garden bush. P. Mantis is an amazing bug: she can make herself look like a stick to hide from predators, she can swivel her head all the way around, and when she's grown up she'll even be able to fly!

In dated journal entries P. Mantis describes the entirety of her life, sharing the fun and beauty of her world as well its little ups and downs ("I ate one of my brothers. Okay, maybe two"). Colorful, bold art helps illustrate the different stages of the mantis life cycle, and the engaging, narrative text is paired with more detailed information about praying mantises on the heavily-illustrated endpapers.

Washington Children's Choice Book Award 2019 Nominee
A New York Public Library Staff Pick for Children
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Don't miss the other hilarious entries in The Nature Diary Series!

Each one explores the life cycle of an animal in dated journal entries, showing young readers how they grow and change through the seasons-- and offering a few laughs, too! Brightly illustrated and vetted by experts, Paul Meisel's books are a perfect introduction to your backyard neighbors.

My Happy Year by E. Bluebird
A Junior Library Guild Selection

My Stinky Summer by S. Bug
A Junior Library Guild Selection

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

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 28, 2017

About the author

I See A Cat and See Me Run, two books written and illustrated by Paul Meisel, received the Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Award from the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association.
Potty training can be a challenge. YOU POOP HERE by Paul Meisel can help lessen a child's fear of using a potty: Elephants poop in the grass. Fish and alligator poop in the water. Where do you poop (and pee)? In the potty of course. In a starred review SLJ said about You Poop Here: "An excellent first purchase for anyone looking to expand their potty learning collection, and an ideal complement to Taro Gomi’s classic Everyone Poops."
Paul Meisel is also the author/illustrator of My Awesome Summer by P. Mantis (Holiday House Publishers) which was named by the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prizes as a 2018 finalist for best books of the year in the Children's Science Picture Books category. My Happy Year by E. Bluebird (about Eastern Bluebirds) and My Stinky Summer by S. Bug (about brown marmorated stink bugs) are two other books in this Nature Diary series.
Other books that Paul Meisel wrote and illustrated are: See Me Dig, See Me Play, Anna And Samia, and Good Night, Bat! Good Morning, Squirrel!

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a fun mentor text for a project where students do a little animal research and then write from that animal's perspective.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The diary of a praying mantis. My favorite thing he does is eat his brother.

[Andréa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much more fun format for learning about insects than the typical nonfiction books.

Note: I received an unbound galley of this book from the publisher at ALA Midwinter 2017.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are talking about insects, the beautiful illustrations of them in their environments never hurts. The story is presented in a diary format as the mantis hatches, eats and grow, and eats and grows. The art of camouflage for survival is mentioned and the need to be wary of spiders and other predators, including other mantis.
I was the kid who read and spent hours in the small wooded area near our house. I loved discovering things and I loved the stately praying mantis when they would roost on a plant in the garden. In the third grade a hands-on adventurous teacher brought a branch with a mantis egg sac attached into the classroom. As winter closed in and the classroom temperature rose, the mantis hatched over one weekend. That was so much fun. Some of us caught them to study, others reacted in horror. The janitor was called in to open windows and clean up the experiment. Now that is hands-on science.

[Jtimko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discover the life cycle of the praying mantis from birth in spring until death in late fall.
What a fun way to present the life cycle of a praying mantis! First, who can resist choosing this book based solely on the title? The bright, colorful acrylic ink paints illustrate the travels of the praying mantis among colorful flowers. Short informative sentences tell of the life of the mantis from hatching until death. He even manages to devour one (or two) of his brothers/sisters! The end pages of the inside cover present additional information while the dust cover does not obscure the information. This is sure to be an informative and humorous read-aloud introduction to the insect unit. Highly recommended for grades K through 3.

[Lisa Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ran across this gem while weeding today. I love the diary-like entries of the life of this praying mantis.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute informational book on preying mantises. I "made like a stick" is the casual language in the book. I "grabbed him before he could say Jiminy Cricket" is another example.

[Sienna · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was good, but it had 40 pages overall it was really good

[Cynthia Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This title is a delightful rendition of the life of a praying mantis who beautifully narrates her own story beginning on her May 17 birthday! Her story begins with facts just inside the book's cover lined with humorous text and beautiful paintings which teaches children about the life cycle of the praying mantis. Interestingly enough, the praying mantis that lived in the author's yard in Connecticut inspired this book and is related to mantises that came from China to Pennsylvania over a century ago. Mantises enjoy eating live insects, but also enjoy small animals such as frogs, mice and birds! They catch prey with lightning fast legs that have rows of spines helping the mantis hold tightly to his prey. They are masters of camouflage, though mostly brown or green, they can be white, pink or yellow. They also sway in the wind to appear to be a leaf or stick blowing in the wind. Immediately we see the baby mantis and her 150 siblings emerging from the egg case, realizing that they are unable to fly, but fortunately she was born on a bush that is covered with aphids which she and siblings dine upon. She avoids be eaten by birds, but two weeks after birth, the aphids are gone, so she eats three brothers and a sister! (Hilarious!) She does lots of exploring! By late August she has shed her skin several times and is asked if she is praying! Yes, she is praying, praying that something tasty comes along and believes she is just a stick! P. Mantis is the only insect that can turn its head like a human. Interestingly a mantis has only one ear and two very large eyes, in daylight, she can see objects as far away as 50 feet. P. Mantis sports two sets of wings, however the male mantis is lighter than the female and is able to fly longer distances. P. Mantis would not be able to defend herself from a bat, spider, bird, frog or lizard that may have wanted to eat her. By mid October she has laid an egg case of her own. Though she will not survive the winter, in the spring her own babies with hatch and the cycle begins again. Beautiful hand painted illustrations grace the pages of this book with pictures filling the inside covers in front and back. Included in the book is a short list of websites to extend learning and also a brief glossary. This book was be an excellent follow-up to a book entitled "Mary Ann" by Betsy James published in 1994.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book about the lifecycle of the praying mantis in the form of a diary. It's pretty accurate in its commentary and its illustrations. Because breeding wasn't mentioned though egg laying was, I found out that some mantises can reproduce via parthenogenesis, but that wasn't mentioned in the text or any annotations inside the book covers (there are a good number of them, packaged attractively on the endpapers, which is fun but also frustrating with a library copy).

I wish we had had this book when my son was young, as his father is a big fan of praying mantises and we could have enjoyed it together! A good book for nature study with the young. For other nature study picturebooks, try The Butterfly Alphabet Book, works by Dianna Hutts Aston, as well as fun We Dig Worms!: TOON Level 1, Diary of a Worm

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nominate for the 2019 Washington state children's choice picture book award. Teachers will like the diary format and the facts about the life cycle of the praying mantis. The kids will love the frankness when he eats his siblings (is that a spoiler?).

I wonder if my older students will remember when we had a praying mantis in the library. Some kids would find bugs to feed it, but occasionally I would have to buy crickets. I never told the younger kids (and now they are my older kids) what happened to her. In a rush I put five crickets in her cage at once. They ambushed her! There was nothing left. I sent them to a neighbor school where they were fed to a class pet (reptile). It was revenge for my sweet bug.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this, I kept thinking of "Dr. Mantis" from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

This vibrantly illustrated book traces the lifecycle of a praying mantis, from hatching in the spring to laying her own eggs in the fall. Along the way, she must find food and dodge some of the hazards these insects face.

There is a lot of eating of other bugs in this book--the mantis even chows down on a few of her brothers and sisters. This accurately describes the behavior of this insect, but very young or sensitive kids may be turned off by this content.

[Arminzerella · Rating 4 out of 5]

P. Mantis journals her summer as she grows from nymph to adult, preying on other insects (including her siblings) and avoiding danger (birds, bats, etc.). A cute and funny first look at the lifecycle of a praying mantis. Doesn't get into too many details and skips mating altogether, although P. Mantis does lay eggs in the same location she grew up before taking a "long nap" toward the end of October. More detailed facts about praying mantises fill the endpapers of this book and offer tasty informational tidbits to readers who are mad for mantids after reading this.

Excerpt:
June 2
All the aphids are gone. I'm hungry. Growing so fast! I ate one of my brothers. Okay, maybe two.

[Chastity Stanfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

I rated this book 1 star because for the target audience 4-8, is not the right age range at the lower end of the spectrum. This book gets way to graphic for smaller kids. The part where the praying mantis talks about eating his brothers and sisters then biting off a bee's head, is just not the content for 4-6 year old children. This book will make a kid have nightmares about this insect instead of being healthy curious about it and wanting to explore it, kids would cringe and say that insect is gross and bad! Kids should explore this book when they have a grasp of the understanding of science and the insect circle of life and habits.

[bjneary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this Spring Related Picture Book for my #BitAboutBooks Spring Reading Challenge and I just loved Miesel's narrator, P. Mantis!!! My granddaughters love the pictures, the facts and seeing through the illustrations and dates from May through October the life cycle of the praying mantis. The laughs the baby praying mantis gleaned from my granddaughters was always about the eating.

June 2 "I'm hungry, Growing so fast! I ate one of my brothers. Okay maybe two."
June 4 "I ate another brother. And one of my sisters too."
The giggles and re-reading were filled with learning facts and how amazing this insect is!

A truly enjoyable, ingenious picture book!

[Taylynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Junior Battle of the Books: 2021/2022

I read this because I want to read the same books as students at our school for Battle of the Books. This book was fun! I have to say, I did not know much about praying mantises but this book taught me about them in a interesting way. This book follows P.Mantis as they go through their life. I learned so many fun facts; I am a sucker for fun facts. Did you know mantises eat their siblings? I also learned they shed their skin 6-10 times in their short life. How short? They hatch in the spring and die in the winter. Don’t worry though- mantises lay over 300 eggs before they die!

[BiblioBickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lifecycle of a praying mantis made into a humorous adventure in the form of a praying mantis' diary. Although a praying mantis pretty much does the same thing every day - eating other animals (including its brothers and sisters) and avoiding being eaten - the diary and excellent pictures keep it interesting. Begins May 17 with P's birth and ends October 17 with her lying down and taking "a long nap." End pages are packed with facts that are thoughtfully not obscured by the cover. Great read-aloud or early elementary book.

[Jade · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess I was in the minority in finding this marketed children's book containing the fictitious journal entries of a growing praying mantis weird, disturbing, and vague. I understand that the life cycle mirrors scientific fact, but it was loose and laced with an odd, repetitive humor. Abrupt transitions and unsuccessful personification (the voice of the MC Praying Mantis sounds like about the most disinterested hipster dude you ever came across in a snobby coffee shop) turned me off, and I would not recommend this one to children or parents for read-along.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love mantises and used to keep them as pets for many years and watched their habits. So, when I saw this picture book that is “told by” a mantis and tells the story of its life, I had to read it. It was adorable and hilarious from beginning to end. The story does a good job explaining the life cycle and habits of mantises very well, with wonderfully cute illustrations. It is in more of a picture book format than of a non-fiction/fact-based format. If you or someone you know loves mantises, you should read this book. I now want to go buy it.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha! Facts about the Praying Mantis in interesting format with running commentary including "I ate my brother" and "Ran into one of my brothers. He tried to eat me. So I ate him." Realistic in my experience with praying mantises!

I'm eager to read this to my 6-year-old bug loving grandson and get his reaction. My guess is he will love it.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worked very well for read aloud for hard-to-entertain class of boys. Great illustrations, short, engaging text.

Wish the extra information about mantises was on book pages though instead of the inside pages of the cover (what are those called?) because from the library it gets covered with stickers and the jacket gets taped down so lots of it becomes unreadable :-(

Texas Critters class

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A praying mantis is born and describes its life from what it eats to how often it sheds its skin to developing wings (those that develop wings). It tells of its defenses — looking like a stick, sharp teeth, and razor arms. Sheds skin with hanging upside down. Can turn its head to see what is behind.

Then there is an info section at the end.

Good way to get nonfiction info out there.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 but rounding up to 4!

This was a fun and informative story about the life cycle of a praying mantis. Lots of facts sprinkled in to the very kindergarten-appropriate text. I asked the class to listen for a fact about praying mantises to share at the end, and against all odds they came up with all kinds of things! I’d reread during an insect unit in the future.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet diary with fun facts.
Because of it's journal format, I sorely missed the humor of Diary of a worm.

[Ms. Jeane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an ok book, but I feel like they are trying too hard to do what Doreen Cronin does so well with her Diary of a Worm, Diary of Spider, etc. Plus learning about Preying Mantis is a little gruesome, lol!

[Marcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The life cycle of a praying mantis, told by the mantis himself. The book felt redundant to me, but I suppose a praying mantis' life is just a matter of eating, shedding its skin, and avoiding predators, over and over again. It will be a nice addition to the insect study.

[Jj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminiscent of Diary of a Worm in tone and perspective, this is a good introduction to the short but action-packed life of a Praying Mantis. A good summertime read for early elementary kids who are exploring outdoors, and all those bug enthusiasts out there.

[Debbie Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story about the life of a praying mantis. It's born on a beautiful spring day in May and tells the story of how it grows and changes. This one has potential for a writing mentor text. It would also be good paired with a story like "Diary of a Worm".

[Dest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darkly funny introduction to the short life of a praying mantis. Told in a kind of diary format, P. Mantis quips, "Praying? Yeah, I'm praying. Praying something tasty comes along that thinks I'm a stick."

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've ever wanted to know how a praying mantis spends it summer, than this book is for you. It is written in a journal format and all from the perspective of one mantis. It is full of all kinds of facts about the insect as well.