Bugs: Poems about Creeping Things

by David L. Harrison

Insects with attitude. When gnats don swords and feathered hats, and a flea named Ralph has giraffe in "hif mouf," it's not long before other crawly insects become bold, too. In this lively collection of bug-centered poems, a grasshopper who's downright tacky chews weeds and spits "tobacky," while a dumb pair of beetles sets out to float across the sea in a tennis-shoe boat. Rob Shepperson's drawings add quiet visual humor to David L. Harrison's quick-witted verse, and the combination of the two creates mind-tickling comedy.

Genres: Poetry, Animals

56 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2007

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun quirky book of poetry about bugs, that would probably be good for an older elementary age kid. The illustrations were whimsical and each poem addresses a different type of bug.

The most interesting poems were those for two voices, which seemed like they would be entertaining to read aloud in a storytime setting.

[Sierra Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely adorable! It is full of cute and funny poems that my daughter loved. Each page brings a new bug to life in a silly and engaging way. Cue the giggles!

The rhyming is spot-on, making it a fantastic tool for teaching rhyme and rhythm to early readers. The poems are short and fun, which keeps little ones interested.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and clever for the most part.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was surprisingly fun--I only say that because the cover just doesn't do it justice! The drawings are fantastic--just black and white, but definitely in the same quirky style of Shel Silverstein. These poems are great too!
My listeners especially enjoyed the ones written for two voices .
Fly
1st voice: "That fly is dead!" 2nd voice: "You sure?"
1st voice: "I smacked it with a baseball bat! After that I jumped on it from my bed. It's dead!"
2nd voice: "You sure?"
This continues --the 1st voice explains all of the very elaborate and ridiculous ways he ensured that the fly was smushed while the 2nd voice is quite skeptical. As you can imagine [ spoiler alert ] the fly is still buzzing around at the end.
There are several really great ones in here: Bugs (about some insects who moved under his WELCOME mat), great rhyming in Gnat, Flea (about an overly ambitious and very hungry flea) are all fantastic.
These could be used in an elementary school classroom to excite young writers about poetry! Great example of humor, word play and clever writing!

[Charli Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bugs Poems About Creeping Things is a very humorous poetry book by David Harrison that is all about the different types of bugs. This book is full of different poems that focus on a different bug and its characteristic. Each poem describes a different bug and what they may do due to their appearance. All the poems rhyme and when read, have a very nice rhythmic flow. Some poems in this book are very short, while some are a lot longer and require two people to read it, which makes this book interactive! Another intriguing aspect to these poems are that depending on what bug Harrison is writing about, he will make them seem scary or friendly due to what people already think. He takes each bug and gives them a '"creepy, crawly" personality! While reading this book I could not help but to laugh at all the humor that Harrison brings to each poem and the personality that he brings to each bug. Harrison then takes each bug and makes them not seem so scary, but more funny! Bugs Poems About Creeping Things is a great poetry book and would be a great read for readers who are introducing themselves to poetry as well as others!

[Laura]

Grade: K-1 & 2-3
Topic: Bugs/insects (different types)

This is a great book for kids who love bugs! Even kids who DON'T like bugs would get a kick out of these quirky poems. Many of the bugs are personified in the poems and some poems just talk about different types of bugs. This probably wouldn't be a book to use in a lesson, but definitely a book to recommend to kids.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

These small poems are short and silly. They work best read aloud, and several are designed for two voices. The design of the pages and the black and white cartoon illustrations extend the silliness of the poems.

[Stephanie Denison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boop says, "I love it, love it, love it!!"

[Nickie]

Here's a cute poem book dedicated to bugs. There are a few 2 voice poems which my daughter enjoyed. We love bugs so if you have kids interested in bugs you need to read these little poems.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting little book. It has a bunch of short poems about bugs. Kinda weird, but some of the poems were really good.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

My absolute favorite book of poetry.

[Stephanie Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book full of fun poems of bugs. This is good for boys to read. The poems are short and creative.

[Salsabrarian]

Wry, funny and rhyming poems about bugs, including poems for two voices. A fave includes "Roaches."

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

great, short, easy and funny poems to entertain young minds