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Grasshopper Book
The author introduces this fascinating book about grasshoppers and their relations by pointing out the error of Aesop's fable which compares the grasshopper unfavorably to the ant. "Actually," he says, "the grasshopper is no more a ner'er-do-well than the ant; it simply does the things it has to for a happy and successful life." He then shows how grasshoppers and the other related insects-crickets, katydids, etc.-are equipped for life and how they act from birth to death. Particularly interesting are in the incidents and examples that were drawn from the author's observation of his own collection of grasshoppers, crickets and katydids that he kept in cages. As in Sunstone's other books by Wilfrid Bronson, the text in this book for young readers is in large, clear type, and there are many illustrations on each page. Wilfrid Swancourt Bronson wrote his first book at the age of eight. Called "Animal People," it started like this: "This book is for children who are interested in animals and birds. It has verey good pictures in it and children can understand it verey easily." He later learned to spell, and wrote and illustrated over twenty books for children with "verey good pictures" that they could understand. Young readers everywhere are glad he did.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1943
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 25, 2022
After reading about the internal anatomy of a grasshopper and learning that a grasshopper's legs could be compared to a catapult, I put this book in the 'donate' box. But then it called to me, so I retrieved it with the intent of skipping over the parts that I didn't care for.
Biggest criticism: Too much in too few pages. Even now I couldn't tell anyone the difference between a grasshopper and a locust. Nor could I explain why they're grouped with katydids and cicadas. Add the crickets and roaches, the walking sticks and praying mantises, and that made for a few too many critters.
Favorite parts: Clear, helpful illustrations. Anecdotes Bronson relayed of his own pet bugs. Some details I'll definitely share with the kids. (E.g., how to tell the age of a grasshopper.)
And now I know why the dust bowl era was plagued with a grasshopper infestation.
p 46
Weather favorable to grasshoppers is just the kind that doesn't favor farmers. When spring rains are scanty, no young grasshoppers drown underground at hatching time. They all come up, sometimes thousands from one square foot of soil. But a dry spring is bad for crops. They come up poorly if at all. Thus more grasshoppers nearly always appear when there is less to feed upon.
p 49
The insects we call grasshoppers in America are the short-feelered kind, which makes them locusts, like the ones that came as a plague to Egypt back in Bible times.
One of Bronson's tales, p 98
My field cricket has a big black beautiful wife. One day, just to see how he would act, I put another male into the cage. Instantly he flew into a rage and rushed at the intruder. Fiddling furiously, jaws agape, he came close to the other male, holding fast to the floor with all his claws, but tensing all his leg muscles so he swayed in angry jerks forward and back and from side to side. He became a veritable jitterbug, dancing all over without moving out of his tracks.
[The irritated cricket ended up killing the visitor and then eating him.]
Biggest criticism: Too much in too few pages. Even now I couldn't tell anyone the difference between a grasshopper and a locust. Nor could I explain why they're grouped with katydids and cicadas. Add the crickets and roaches, the walking sticks and praying mantises, and that made for a few too many critters.
Favorite parts: Clear, helpful illustrations. Anecdotes Bronson relayed of his own pet bugs. Some details I'll definitely share with the kids. (E.g., how to tell the age of a grasshopper.)
And now I know why the dust bowl era was plagued with a grasshopper infestation.
p 46
Weather favorable to grasshoppers is just the kind that doesn't favor farmers. When spring rains are scanty, no young grasshoppers drown underground at hatching time. They all come up, sometimes thousands from one square foot of soil. But a dry spring is bad for crops. They come up poorly if at all. Thus more grasshoppers nearly always appear when there is less to feed upon.
p 49
The insects we call grasshoppers in America are the short-feelered kind, which makes them locusts, like the ones that came as a plague to Egypt back in Bible times.
One of Bronson's tales, p 98
My field cricket has a big black beautiful wife. One day, just to see how he would act, I put another male into the cage. Instantly he flew into a rage and rushed at the intruder. Fiddling furiously, jaws agape, he came close to the other male, holding fast to the floor with all his claws, but tensing all his leg muscles so he swayed in angry jerks forward and back and from side to side. He became a veritable jitterbug, dancing all over without moving out of his tracks.
[The irritated cricket ended up killing the visitor and then eating him.]
Displaying 1 of 1 review