Children's Books discussion

This month, participants can read about all kinds of creepy crawlies, such as insects, arachnids, worms, crabs, or anything else participants consider to be a creepy crawly.

Insects -- Bugs General

Bugs: a Closer Look at the World's Tiny Creatures

Well in my humble opinion, Jinny Johnson’s 1995 Bugs: a Closer Look at the World's Tiny Creatures gives potential readers a very good general introduction to both insects and arachnids (spiders and scorpions), suitable for both older children from about the age of eight or nine onwards, and also though for interested adults who might want a bit of information on insects and spiders but not overly much specifics and scientific jargon, with Bugs: a Closer Look at the World's Tiny Creatures providing enough of a featured narrative to give readers a good general impression but not so much detail so as to become textually overwhelming (and Jinny Johnson’s presented text also being accompanied by full colour and meticulously detailed realistic illustrations, both of the featured animals and often also of their diverse environments, such as for example ant mounts, flowers etc.). Furthermore, and for me personally quite importantly, I also do very much appreciate that in Bugs: a Closer Look at the World's Tiny Creatures Jinny Johnson also and thankfully does not simply consider all insects and arachnids as potentially horrid, as pests, as creatures to be feared and avoided, in other words, Johnson shows and describes both beneficial and harmful, destructive “bugs” (and yes, that Jinny Johnson also points out just how potentially deadly mosquitoes are on a global level, this is to be lauded, as indeed, many biologists, many scientists do consider mosquitoes amongst the world’s most dangerous creatures).

However, even though I would definitely recommend Bugs: a Closer Look at the World's Tiny Creatures, I do find two aspects of Jinny Johnson’s presented text a bit annoying and frustrating. For one, even though Johnson clearly points out that spiders and scorpions are arachnids and not insects (albeit they are of course closely related), considering just how often spiders and scorpions are still being labeled and approached as insects, perhaps it would be better if the sections on scorpions and spiders in Bugs: a Closer Look at the World's Tiny Creatures were to appear in a different area of the book and by themselves. And I definitely do find it majorly frustrating and a pretty significant academic shortcoming that there are no bibliographic materials whatsoever included in Bugs: a Closer Look at the World's Tiny Creatures and that this most definitely and majorly lessens the potential teaching and learning value of this otherwise very thorough and educational tome.

"Scary" Animals

What Makes a Monster?: Discovering the World's Scariest Creatures

Like with the first book of Jess Keating's The World of Weird Animals series (like with her Pink is for Blobfish), What Makes a Monster? is also and once again delightfully engagingly recounted, and even with a bit of gentle humour thrown in for good measure (but not ever to the point of the narrative becoming either silly or feeling artificial, to the point of the author's humorous asides taking over, or worse, taking the place of factual explanations and scientific information), and above all, most appreciatively and importantly, What Makes a Monster? is well enough researched and for the most part and generally scientifically sound (with each of the seventeen featured animal species having their common name, their Latin species name, size, diet, habitat, predators and threats listed, as well as there being a glossary and some very basic suggestions for further study and research included). And yes, What Makes a Monster? also and in every way does pretty much achieve what the title suggests, namely listing and describing creatures that are generally considered scary or frightening, or rather, presenting animal species (and one fungus) that we humans tend to view as creepy, nightmare inducing and often thus approach with trepidation and suspicion.

But all the above having been said, and while I have indeed found much (if not most) of What Makes a Monster? both enlightening and entertaining, I have actually not enjoyed it nearly as much as the first book of the series, as Pink is For Blobfish (which really does present only decidedly pink hued animal species). For while the "scary" creatures presented by Jess Keating most definitely are of biological, zoological interest to and for me, for one, I have some general issues with labelling any type of animal species as simply "monstrous" and for two (and actually much more importantly) there are in fact (and at least in my humble opinion) some rather major informational gaps found in certain sections of What Makes a Monster? as well as some instances, where the author, where Jess Keating really should present her findings, her information with considerably more authorial criticism if not actual condemnation of us, of human beings and our attitudes, our approach to those animals we for some reason or another consider strange and frightening (read dangerous).

For example, while I in fact much appreciate that the author does strive to show that the first animal species featured and presented in What Makes a Monster? (an endemic Madagascan nocturnal primate known as the Aye-Aye) is in actual fact not in any way dangerous, not in any manner even remotely a monster, but is seemingly critically endangered and sadly misunderstood because of unwarranted and rampant human superstition (which cause Malagasy villagers to regularly and routinely kill these inoffensive insectivorous primates on sight as they believe they are supposedly a symbol of impending death), Jess Keating also does in no way take her criticism far enough. Sorry, but in my opinion, she just scratches the proverbial surface so to speak, for the tendency of villagers in Madagascar to without thought and due to simple superstitious fear to often slay Aye-Ayes regularly, and that this has caused Aye-Ayes to be so critically threatened that they might not even survive as a species, now this fact and sad truth should really be condemned unilaterally and without mincing one's words, and without any consideration of perhaps hurting Malagasy villagers' feelings, of being negative towards them with regard to this. And the same kind of holds true with regard to Moray Eels, as while Jess Keating might indeed strive to make the point that these fierce looking, sharp fanged marine creatures are generally ONLY dangerous to humans if they are harassed and/or deliberately teased, she again does not go (at least in my opinion) that one necessary step further to unilaterally and vociferously condemn any and all scuba divers who try to feed Moray Eels, who have tried to dislodge them from their crevices, their caves, in order to observe them, in order to photograph them etc. For Moray Eels do seem to have quite a nasty reputation amongst scuba divers in particular, but the author should really have insisted a bit more forcefully that said reputation the scuba divers have mostly caused and precipitated themselves (by often willfully interfering with Moray Eels and then screaming and ranting if the eels do end up lashing out in anger or fear).

Now with regard to what I would call the informational gaps in What Makes a Monster?, while they are actually and definitely NOT all that numerous (and while most of them are in fact pretty well minor), there are indeed a select few that are not only annoyingly frustrating but also a wee bit problematic for an author who supposedly is a scientist, is a trained zoologist. For I certainly do NOT understand and definitely find it more than a trifle mind-boggling that while Jess Keating mentions the infamous Vampire Bat, she then does not also point out one of the most frightening and yes dangerous issues with the latter, namely that Vampire Bats are often a vector for rabies (and that especially in South America, rabies are in fact often spread by and through Vampire Bats and their penchant for dining on mammalian blood). And similarly, with regard to the Prairie Dog, why does Jess Keating not mention that the almost extirpation of Prairie Dogs from the Canadian prairies has also caused the Black Footed Ferret to become critically endangered (as it specifically hunts Prairie Dogs and only Prairie Dogs)? And while Prairie Dogs do indeed often carry the bubonic plague bacteria, so actually do many other rodents as well (a fact that should have been at least alluded to). And finally, with regard to avian nest parasites like the presented Honeyguides, come on, Ms. Keating, Honeyguides are not the only such bird species (with in Europe, the Cuckoo and in the prairie regions of both the United States and Canada the Brown Headed Cowbird being very much similarly destructive, and also being similarly helped and abetted due to agricultural practices and large scale logging, which fragments the forests and expands these birds' traditional grassland ranges into erstwhile wooded areas, to the detriment of especially small forest dwelling perching birds).

However, even with the criticisms above, I do still and indeed find much to enjoy and savour with regard to What Makes a Monster? and absolutely appreciate that Jess Keating is never adverse to pointing out the threats of pollution and pollution induced climate change (for example, that the latter is throwing especially many marine ecosystems out of balance, and that therefore, potentially dangerous ocean creatures that used to be primarily denizens of the deep and of the tropics, like the very large and painfully stinging, potentially even lethal communal jellyfish the Portuguese Man of War has recently been sighted further and further north, even on the beaches of New England). And while I was in fact at first thinking of ranking What Makes a Monster? with but a very high two stars (as the information gaps mentioned above and especially the lack of criticism of Malagasy villagers who kill Aye-Ayes out of superstition and/or of scuba divers who often and needlessly harass Moray Eels has definitely personally chafed), when I noticed the last presented species of "dangerous" animal, I both chuckled a bit and also nodded my head with understanding sadness (and immediately raised my ranking for What Makes a Monster? to a solid three stars). Now I am not going to post what the final species of animal "monster" featured and presented is, but will ask potential readers (and guessers) the following salient question. Which member of kingdom animalia has over the past 100,000 years or so not only kept increasing in numbers (and exponentially so since the 19th century), but has also been regularly and often very much willfully destructive to the earth as a whole, to its flora, its fauna (and this also includes members of its own species)?

And finally, I do promise, as to David DeGrand's accompanying illustrations, while personally, I would tend to still consider them a trifle too cartoon-like and gaudily garish for my personal aesthetics, they do in fact work quite well with Jess Keating's text, with her narrative. And considering the title (What Makes a Monster?) and the fact that this is a book entirely devoted to scary or at least to potentially frightening, strange and uncanny creatures, the very imaginative and lively illustrations do provide a fun (and at times a bit horrifying) engaging mirror and complement (although I personally and readily admit that I for one have not really paid all that much attention to the cartoony pictures, instead much preferring and concentrating on the photographs of the presented and described animal species, but I can certainly and well imagine David DeGrand's illustrative offerings being a hit with the intended audience, with older children from about the age of nine onwards).

Unusual Animals

Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals

While I generally find the presented information in Michael Hearst's Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals both enlightening and indeed, evocatively, engagingly recounted (with enough hard science facts to be educational, but also never too dense, intricate and overly intensive to become confusing and possibly distracting, tedious to and for the intended audience, to and for children above the age of nine or so), personally, I definitely could have done without author's many humorous "asides" (as they do seem rather majorly silly, even potentially annoying, and especially the fact that nearly ALL of the wrong, that almost ALL of the false multiple choice quiz answers are unreasonable and generally make no sense common whatsoever, that is and remains truly more than a bit frustrating and irritating). And while I do, in fact, realise and also generally understand and appreciate that many children would likely find the type of humour displayed in Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals very much appealing, I most certainly do not (and more than likely also would not have all that much enjoyed this type of silliness even as a child, even when I was the age of the intended audience). However and all that being said and my personal textual quibbles notwithstanding, Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals is still and yes indeed a true biological and zoological, ecological treasure trove and as such recommended as a cherished and valuable teaching and learning tool (and although Arjan Noordeman's, Christie Wright's and Jelmer Noordeman's accompanying illustrations are not personal favourites, as I would certainly have much preferred photographs, they are an aesthetically appealing as well as visually clear successful and informative mirror of and compliment to Michael Hearst's narrative, his text, and indeed and yes a very good match).

Now I was actually very seriously considering a four star rating for Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals until I to my annoyance and intense frustration noticed that while the author, while Michael Hearst does provide appreciated and essential supplemental information and details on how one can become more environmentally friendly and proactive (including eating more local produce and consuming less meat), I am sorely missing a list of works cited, a bibliography (and by extension also adequate source citations with necessary footnotes or endnotes). And considering that Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals basically features mostly hard core science facts, features specific biological and zoological information and details, this lack of citations, this absence of any and all bibliographical source references is (to and for me) a serious academic shortcoming and enough for me to without hesitation now only consider three stars at best, as this book simply requires this, simply screams out for providing a list of source materials and cited secondary works (although I still do much and highly recommend Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Creatures, just with the necessary and important caveats that in my humble opinion some of the humour is or at least can be a trifle forced and irritating and that the non inclusion of a list of works cited with recommendations for further reading and research is a potentially considerably more serious issue, especially for teachers intending to use Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals in the classroom or as study material for their students).

Sea Creatures

Journey Into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures

If I were to only consider Rebecca L. Johnson's 2011 Journey into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures scientifically and with regard to how well the author describes the Census of Marine Life and the oh so very many new to science sea creatures found and catalogued during this global project, I would in all likelihood be granting a full five star rating (as both the presented narrative and the accompanying photographs are intellectually and visually a total and utter dream, with especially the author's printed words showing a very good and appreciated, helpful combination of necessary complexity of thematics and simplicity of word usage and style so as to sufficiently enlighten but not unnecessarily overwhelm the intended audience, older children from about the age of nine onwards, not to mention that the source notes, the bibliographies and suggestions for further study and reading are the absolute icing on the cake here and do most definitely greatly augment the teaching and supplemental research potential of Journey Into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures).

However and the above all having been said, I have to admit that I do take a bit of personal umbrage at the rather casual and nonchalant attitude shown by author Rebecca L. Johnson towards the fact that in order to adequately study and analyse these creatures of the deep, in order to make and then manually organise these types of discoveries, sea animals such as jellyfish, comb jellies, zoo plankton, crustaceans etc. must be mined and harvested and then later preserved in alcohol, in other words, they need to more often than not be killed, they need to be captured and later destroyed. And while I do in fact more than understand why this needs to be done, there is at least in my humble opinion a rather callous authorial attitude of "oh well this is necessary to and for science" that I for one tend to find more than a bit uncomfortable (and indeed, I do therefore wish that the author had shown a trifle more humility and less of a sense of this being simply necessary and therefore totally academically, scientifically excusable). Still, and for all that Journey Into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures remains highly recommended (but yes, even though I have much enjoyed both text and the many amazing photographs and have actually learned quite a lot myself, I do leave this book with a somewhat bitter taste remaining in my mouth and a sadness that in order to study the ocean and its creatures, we seemingly have to kill them and that we also still do seem to think that this is both acceptable and even perhaps quite appropriate).

Oh and by the way, although I know that Journey Into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures is also available as an e-book, I would absolutely NOT RECOMMEND the digital version, as the printed words are so small that they are almost undecipherable (even if one tries to zoom in). Now really, what educational use is a non fiction science book on the ocean if one cannot actually peruse the featured text with any kind of visual ease? And truth be told, I even ended up having to purchase the hardcover edition of Journey Into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Creatures, as it was quite simply utterly impossible for me to physically read the e-book edition on my iPad.

Sea Creatures

Weird Sea Creatures

It is really rather saddening that I just cannot give Erich Hoyt's in many ways utterly amazing and oh so enlightening Weird Sea Creatures more than three stars, for if I were to consider Weird Sea Creatures from just its text and photographs, it would definitely be a four if not even a five star read for me. Featuring both exceedingly informative but still always engaging and approachable printed words (including an extensive introduction that is indeed intellectually to die for, as it not only introduces the fifty so-called weird sea creatures of the deepest reaches of the ocean that are about to be presented, but author Erich Hoyt then also takes the time to explain that many of these denizens of the abyss are so recently discovered that they do not even as of yet have commonly accepted names and designations) and visually stunning (albeit at times also almost a bit frighteningly uncanny) accompanying photographs, a wonderful marriage of informative, enlightening narrative and equally thus visual images emerges (with enough presented scientific detail to be informative but never so much as to be overwhelming, although I do consider Weird Sea Creatures as most definitely a book for older children and teenagers, for readers above the ages of nine or ten, as there is indeed quite a bit of advanced vocabulary used and the narrative can be a bit dense).

However, my enjoyment and indeed my appreciation of Weird Sea Creatures notwithstanding and considering that this is an entirely science and as such also research based non fiction book for children (for older children), I personally cannot and will not forgive and forget that unfortunately and annoyingly, Erich Hoyt has chosen to include NO bibliographical information whatsoever (no suggestions for further reading, no footnotes and endnotes, basically nothing of the sort, period), a really and truly problematic academic and intellectual shortcoming that totally and sadly very much lowers and limits the teaching, learning and especially the supplemental research value of Weird Sea Creatures (and something that I for one do NOT AT ALL understand, for I simply cannot fathom how and why Erich Hoyt would consider his in most other ways so excellent Weird Sea Creatures to be in any manner complete without a list of works cited and/or suggestions for further research and study). Still recommended, but really, without supplemental bibliographical details, Weird Sea Creatures at least to and for me is quite massively lacking (and indeed, while I also wish that Erich Hoyt had perhaps included a glossary and some visual aids as to where his presented animal species of the deep have been found, such as detailed oceanic maps, I can most definitely accept and handle the lack of a glossary and accompanying maps, but I just cannot stomach the non inclusion of bibliographical information).

I would steer clear of this month's thread (creepy crawlies are not my thing at all!) except that I have two children who sometimes enjoy this sort of book, so I will post back if anything pops up during the month ;-)

I have enjoyed a few fictional picture books with cute spiders and bugs. I'll mention here:
Sophie's Masterpiece: A Spider's Tale
Be Nice to Spiders
The Worm Family Has Its Picture Taken

One thing that I personally often find troubling is that far too many non fiction children’s books about creepy crawlies and potentially dangerous animals focus way too much on threats etc. instead of showing that in fact humans are often much more of a threat (even to insects, spiders, snakes, weird sea creatures etc.) than the other way around.

Manybooks wrote: "One thing that I personally often find troubling is that far too many non fiction children’s books about creepy crawlies and potentially dangerous animals focus way too much on threats etc. instead..."

I agree, that's a shame. Even though I personally am uncomfortable with creepy crawlies, I know that they are very important parts of the ecosystem and should be respected. We don't do any type of exterminations, toxic garden or lawn products, etc. I mean, if there was a potentially dangerous one (we've had black widows in other homes) then I will kill it, but otherwise we try to share our yard and homes with them. I'm glad the boys don't share my phobia. If we are considering snakes or crabs etc. as creepy crawlies, then I don't actually have a problem with those -- just some insects and arachnids. I have a friend who is really horrified of snakes, yet even after having lived with rattlesnakes in our yard most of my life, I don't feel that negative gut reaction to snakes like I do with some "bugs" My sister-in-law thinks birds are creepy. I love birds! Fascinating how different people see things differently.

Kathryn wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "One thing that I personally often find troubling is that far too many non fiction children’s books about creepy crawlies and potentially dangerous animals focus way too much on th..."

I wonder if your SIL started thinking birds are creepy after watching that Alfred Hitchcock movie. I know many are afraid of sharks because of Jaws.

Ooh I've got some good titles for this in my ebook collection as well as a couple I know of

Fiction:

I Don't Want to Eat Bugs by Rachel Branton

Waiting for a Frog by Gloria Gedeon

How Spider Saved the Baseball Game by Robert Kraus

Quiet in the Garden by Aliki (one of my favorites at the education curriculum library)

Nonfiction:

Do You Wonder Why Bugs Are Good ? by Joseph Mora

The Secrets of Animal Flight by Nic Bishop

And maybe some aspects of
Why Do I Sing?: Animal Songs of the Pacific Northwest by Jennifer Blomgren
and
Gaia and the Golden Toad: A Tale of Climate Change by Joan Muller

This isn't a topic I know much about, so I'm excited to find some books.

The library had a big display of these by the door of the children's library. I couldn't make myself actually read any though.

The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea

Bryn Barnard's absolute brilliant The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea is definitely both massively depressing and indeed also to and for me on a personal and emotional level angrily infuriating, but it is nevertheless an essential and most important non fiction book that really and truly does need to be be required reading for not only ALL school aged children, period (actually more children above the age of nine or so, as while the text of The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea is not penned in an overly difficult to understand manner, it is nevertheless narrationally dense and replete with much scientific and ecologic information) but indeed and in fact equally so for ALL adults (but especially true with regard to politicians and those naive and annoying ignoramuses who still and yes annoyingly blinkeredly choose to deny and refuse to consider the real and present, even if uncomfortable truth that human caused climate change, as well as massive littering with especially plastics, not to mention rampant over-fishing have caused the world's oceans to become increasingly warmer and stagnant, more and more polluted, and sadly therefore ever more devoid of much of the ocean life that used to proliferate and thrive in the waters). Highly recommended, with the bibliography and glossary at the back of The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea an appreciated and important added bonus (with especially the list of sources, the above mentioned bibliography, greatly increasing both the teaching and learning as well as the supplemental research value of The New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea). And while I do to a point understand that some readers have indeed found the New Ocean: The Fate of Life in a Changing Sea and in particular Bryn Barnard's featured text somewhat preachy, considering how much in danger and how increasingly stagnant of life the oceans are continuously becoming (with the scary scenario of in the future having seas in which mostly only a select few animal and plant species such as jellyfish and blue green algae will be able to survive and thrive a real and dangerous possibility if not even a probability), sorry, but that very preachiness is most definitely and perhaps a bit sadly very much required, as something absolutely needs to be done before it is too late (and you know, it might already be too late to completely save our oceans, but if we collectively start now, perhaps some of the damage might at be least somewhat mitigated).

Have not had a chance to read this in detail, Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us looks excellent (and is available on Open Library).

Celia, too many of those are going on my to-read lists! ;)

Be Nice to Spiders is on openlibrary (though with one small bit of text unreadable). What a discovery! Great book! Too bad it wasn't popular enough at the time of publication!

Also, it reminds me of The Very Busy Spider, one of the favorites from my sons' childhoods that I'm sure must still be in most libraries, as Eric Carle is so popular.

Starting to browse... it looks like a lot of the books that we find might have a 'green' theme, or about gardening. Sure there will be the straight up non-fiction titles, but I hope we can find something that's somehow more. Like, I dunno, maybe a short novel for tweens about a kid who wants to be an entomologist?

Cheryl wrote: "Like, I dunno, maybe a short novel for tweens about a kid who wants to be an entomologist?"

Not exactly what you asked for, but a very funny middle grade book is How to Eat Fried Worms. It was first published in 1973, and I read it many years ago. Basically, the main character makes a bet with his friends that he can eat 15 worms in 15 days. This was a pretty popular book a few decades ago.

What To Do When A Bug Climbs In Your Mouth And Other Poems To Drive You Buggy


A short, funny book of poems with enough gross factor to appeal to boys. The first poem, "What to Do When a Bug Climbs In Your Mouth," goes like this:
When a bug climbs in your mouth
And you don't know what to do,
CHEW!

Beverly wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Like, I dunno, maybe a short novel for tweens about a kid who wants to be an entomologist?"

Not exactly what you asked for, but a very funny middle grade book is [book:How to Eat Fr..."

I loved this when we read it in grade five, but when I tried to reread it a few years ago, I felt it had not aged all that well.

I read On Beyond Bugs: All About Insects by Tish Rabe and Because a Little Bug Went Ka-CHOO! by Rosetta Stone today. I don't love the new Dr. Seuss style. Longer review to come.

Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us

Well first and foremost (and for me very much delightfully), the basic set-up of Albert Marrin's 2011 Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us is both visually pleasant and also wonderfully young reader friendly, with a large font size for Marrin's featured text (and which in my humble opinion definitely makes the author's rather information heavy writing much much easier on the eyes than if the words were printed in a tiny and squashed fashion), a very good use of adequate white space, frequent pictures, diagrams and a bibliographical section that not only has chapter divisions (and suggestions for both younger and older readers) but also lists not only books but also a decent list of internet resources. And indeed, my only (and very) slight annoyance and complaint regarding the general layout for Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us is namely that considering the brightly coloured book title cover image, it to and for me is a bit of a potential visual detriment to have ALL of the included photographs and diagrams for Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us appear completely and utterly in black-and-white, that in particular young readers just moving on and up from picture books, might well feel a bit visually cheated by the complete lack of any colour whatsoever within the pages of Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us (especially since the book cover image does indeed show parasites sporting really bright hues).

Now as a non fiction tome on parasites (human, animal, plant, and with Albert Marrin also showing that parasites are everywhere and that even parasites themselves will generally also have their own sets of parasites, which biologists call hyperparasites) The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us is meticulously researched, engagingly, educationally written and also seems to be informationally accurate and up-to-date with regard to current, contemporary parasitology understanding and knowledge (by 2011 standards of course). And Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us is equally and most fortunately thoroughly and decently enough presented with regard to the required information and details without becoming overwhelming and without Albert Marrin textually showing off by using too much biological, scientific jargon, that yes indeed, Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us provides a wonderful general introduction to parasites and to parasitology for both older children from about the age of nine or ten onwards but also in my humble opinion for interested adults desiring a concise, extensive but not overly detailed textual representation covering what one needs to know regarding parasites (including how our understanding regarding parasitical pests and how to deal with and approach them has changed over the centuries, and how in centuries past, many parasites were much more common and much worse due to a generally bad and insufficient regard for basic hygiene).

But even though Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us has most definitely been a solid and also enlightening four star reading experience for me, I would probably not actively consider recommending this book unless potential readers are actually and specifically interested in learning about parasites (and in fact, I only read Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us in the first place because the Miscellaneous Club of the Children’s Literature Group is featuring Creepy Crawlies as its August topic). For while Roger Marrin does manage to keep Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us relatively free of goriness, horror and holds back from absolutely disgusting textual portrayals and representations of parasites, parasitical infections and epidemics, well, ONLY parasites is the topic of Little Monsters: The Creatures that Live on Us and in Us, and due to this, what is thematically written and shown by Roger Marrin is of course and by its very nature rather disgusting, and dealing mostly with disease etc. simply because parasites often if not even usually do cause and spread disease.

Beverly wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Like, I dunno, maybe a short novel for tweens about a kid who wants to be an entomologist?"

Not exactly what you asked for, but a very funny middle grade book is [book:How to Eat Fr..."

I loved that when I was a kid, and I bet it holds up well enough. I dunno if I, personally, would want to qualify it to this theme though.

Creepy Crawlies that I found looked most interesting at the local library today:

The Mystery of Darwin's Frog
Dragonflies Lived with the Dinosaurs!
Spiders Lived with the Dinosaurs!
Eating Bugs as Sustainable Food
Tiny Monsters: The Strange Creatures That Live On Us, In Us, and Around Us
Next Time You See a Pill Bug

The Tiny Hero of Ferny Creek Library
The Not-So Itty-Bitty Spiders
Grasshopper Magic

Watch the books' pages for reviews over the next week or so. I'll only post here if a book is especially wonderful or must be avoided.

On Beyond Bugs by Tish Rabe was a fairly good source of information. The Cat in the Hat tells the reader (and the girl and boy from the original story, though they're more literary devices than characters) about bugs in general, while Thing 1 and Thing 2 have a speech bubble on each page and/or there are just some facts about a specific insect. As the book goes on, it gets into the specifics of insect protection and lifestyles with specific insects.

So if you were as strong
As an ant, you would see
you could lift up ten cats
in tall hats - easily!

I like the comparisons the speaker makes between insects and the reader. These connections make sense and are fun to have children think about.

I really like that this makes insect facts approachable to children in a way that's not just facts and that's somewhat familiar to most students. It would work well for the younger grades, especially if Dr. Seuss books are in different locations around the classroom.

In terms of a Dr. Seuss remake, though, the rhymes are quite clunky. They don't flow well or at all. I would definitely use this to teach science, not poetry. On the other hand, some of the rhymes are about as well done as average third grade writing, so maybe it could be used as a mentor text for some nonfiction writing.

I think I'll add this one to my future classroom wish list, it's pretty good.

Frankly, I do not at all find butterflies creepy in any manner, but in the past, not only were butterflies considered creepy, they were also considered as being created from dung and mud.

Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer

For me, Sarah B. Pomeroy and Jeyaraney Kathirithamby's Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer is probably one of the if not actually the most extensive and intensive general illustrated biography of mid 17th to early 18th century German artist Maria Sibylla Merian (who is also now considered to have been one of the first entomologists and ecologists) I have perused to date. Readable, informative, featuring very much information and detail, but thankfully also without in my humble opinion ever getting bogged down with either too much art or science specific jargon, Pomeroy and Kathirithamby present a succinct (less than 100 page) but still always more than informative enough portrait of Merian's life and times (divided into five enlightening and interesting sections, from her childhood in Frankfurt to Maria Sibylla Merian's final years as a bona fide European celebrity, a single woman who with her daughter had travelled solo to the Dutch South American colony of Surinam and had then resided there until 1701 to collect, study and draw its many plants and insects, its varied and lushly tropical flora and fauna). Accompanied by simply a plethora and aesthetically awe-inspiring smorgasbord of Maria Sibylla Merian's artwork (as well as diverse paintings depicting artist studios, a 1670 city view of Amsterdam etc.), Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer presents a truly wonderful, scientifically, historically and culturally sound and exceedingly well researched combination of text and images, an enlightening and approachable (but also narrationally dense and delightfully academic) introduction to a woman who in many ways was totally ahead of her time, who in mid 16th to early 17th century Germany, the Netherlands and yes Surinam was both an independent artist and indeed also a scientist (a botanist and entomologist). And although after Maria Sibylla Merian's death in 1717, while her drawings of flowers, insects and the like were certainly often used and consulted by the establishment, by scientists such as Carl Linnaeus, Merian herself and especially her scientific observations were generally both overlooked and disparaged simply because of her gender and also of course because she was actually and truly quite avant-guarde so to speak with regard to her approaches to biology, zoology, botany and yes even ecology, Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer shows and depicts that since the 1970s, Maria Sibylla Merian has thankfully and fortunately been increasingly feted and globally celebrated as not only an artist of talent and renown but also as one of the earliest scientific observers and and studiers of insects and their diverse life cycles. Highly recommended (and with the supplemental materials at the back of Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer being appreciated added academic bonuses, especially the list of organisms that have been named after and in honour of Maria Sibylla Merian and the extensive bibliographic lists, which have, glory be, been divided into both primary and secondary resource sections), although I (personally) would definitely not suggest this book as a biography for readers younger than about fourteen or so (and no, there is nothing even remotely inappropriate or of questionable content and thematics with regard to Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer, just that Sarah B. Pomeroy and Jeyaraney Kathirithamby's presented narrative, that their printed words are in my humble opinion a trifle too dense, too academically involved, too potentially difficult comprehension wise for younger readers).

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science

While each chapter heading of Joyce Sidman's The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Marian's Art Changed Science features one of Sidman's signature (and as usual quite simply exquisite and magical) poems, I for one did not even really notice them all that much at first (simply because I was and yes remain so enchanted and delighted with and by the main narrartive, with the author's concise, readable and massively enlighteninging biography of Maria Sibylla Merian, a German artist of the latter 17th and early 18th century, who is now considered by many to likely also have been one of the first entymologists and ecologists). Accompanied by an absolute treasure trove of Maria Sibylla Merian's signature, detailed artwork of moths, butterflies, flowers, trees and the like, as well as additional historical and cultural information on topics as diverse as the witch crazes in Europe from 1450-1750, the first museums, moth versus butterfly, slavery in Surinam etc., The Girl Who Drew Butterflies focusses on the main and essential points of Merian's life (from her childhood in Frankfurt to her solo travels with her daughter Dorothea to the Dutch colony of Surinam), presenting a both interesting and always engaging, approachable account (suitable for older children from about the age of eleven or so, but really, also of much potential interest to and for adults, especially since while in Europe, and especially in Germany, Maria Sibylla Merian's legacy and artwork are pretty well known now, this has not really and unfortunately all that much been the case in especially North America). Highly recommended (with the detailed bibliographical information, timelines and source acknowledgements being appreciated added bonuses, and indeed, the only reason, I am ranking The Girl Who Drew Butterflies with four stars instead of five stars is that the blurb regarding the witch crazes in Europe is in my opinion rather misleading, as Joyce Sidman seems to claim and insinuate with her words that this was only or at least mostly a phenomenon in Germany, which is patently untrue, as the rampant fear of witchcraft, sorcery and its resulting inquisitions were equally present in areas of France, Switzerland, Austria etc., that it was a pan-European and not just a German scenario).

The Bugliest Bug

A fun, mildly exciting and above all delightfully poetically rollicking (song-like) story is Carol Diggory Shields’ 2002 picture book The Bugliest Bug (all about an advertised contest regarding which insect participant will end up winning the prize of being considered the so-called bugliest bug). But alas, the eagerly anticipated contest presented in The Bugliest Bug is unfortunately also a total scam dreamed up by some nasty arachnids, by some hungry predatory spiders (and it is thus up to young and unassuming damselfly Dilly to organise the ensnared in a huge spiderweb insect scam victims to fight back, to escape from the spiders’ greedy clutches, and later, upon successfully accomplishing this, for Dilly to be unanimously declared by all and sundry as most definitely being the bugliest bug). However, even though the presented verses, albeit that the featured storyline of The Bugliest Bug are of course (and as demonstrated above) entirely fictional, both Carol Diggory Shields’ printed words and Scott Nash’s bright and boldly colourful (but still generally realistic in visual scope and feel) accompanying illustrations also in my opinion do serve as providing a basic both verbal and visual introduction to many different types of insects and also a bit to spiders (what the featured insects look like, how they act, what their defence mechanisms against predators are, and yes, that many arachnids tend to actively prey on insects). And although the combination of Carol Diggory Shields’ text and Scott Nash’s artwork in The Bugliest Bug is thus and naturally first and foremost meant to provide entertainment, there is also below the surface so to speak somewhat of an educational component featured, a basic portrait of insects as well as arachnids in general (with regard to their physical attributes and to their diverse behaviours), and which is in my opinion perfect for young children and indeed also probably totally delightful (since The Bugliest Bug is like a fun rhyming song) as a read-aloud.

The Bug Girl: A True Story

I absolutely do find that there is indeed oh so very much to both enjoy and appreciate about The Bug Girl: A True Story that I really wish I could be rating this 2020 non-fiction picture book with more than just three stars. For the premise of The Bug Girl: A True Story and how young Sophia Spencer (with cowriter Margaret McNamara's help) so eloquently tells her personal and totally true story is certainly very much delightful (and yes, even with some parts of The Bug Girl: A True Story also being a tad frustrating and painful), how Sophia lets her readers not only know in no uncertain terms that she is truly a total bug girl, how much insects of all kinds have intensely interested her since her toddlerhood, but also how she, how Sophia almost decided to give up on her love for arthropods altogether due to some nasty instances of schoolyard bullying, and most happily, how her mother (her single mother) then prevented this by sending an email to a group of entomologists (who promptly wrote back to reassure Sophia that there is absolutely nothing at all strange and uncanny about liking and being fascinated by insects, by bugs etc.), and of course not to mention that Kerascoët's accompanying artwork is equally an aesthetic wonder, a truly marvellous visual feast of both realism and imagination and with a presented colour scheme that always works and is never sensually grating or off. However, there are also a few minor but frustratingly so academic issues that I for one have found with The Bug Girl: A True Story and which I do tend to consider problematic enough to remove two stars. For one, I have always been taught that while all bugs are insects, not all insects should be labeled as being bugs. And well, butterflies (and The Bug Girl: A True Story starts with a butterfly) are actually of the order Lepidoptera and true bugs are of the order Hemiptera. And thus, in my humble opinion, Sophia Spencer really should not be calling the butterfly which sparked her interest in insects a bug, but rather an arthropod (or just an insect) and perhaps a better title for this book should actually not be The Bug Girl but a title showing that Sophia is an insect, an arthropod fanatic (and not just label all insects as being bugs, as that is obviously not really all that scientifically correct and sound). And for two and a bit more annoyingly for me, although the supplemental information on insects at the back of The Bug Girl: A True Story is both fascinating and enlightening, that there is no included bibliography, that there are no book titles or websites mentioned for further reading and study, for me, this indeed poses a very much annoying and frustrating intellectual shortcoming and something that I also do think rather lessens the teaching, learning and research value of The Bug Girl: A True Story.

Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and His World of Insects

So yes, Matthew Clark Smith’s 2015 Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and his World of Insects is the type of picture book biography that for and to me basically and mostly gets things right so to speak. For the author, for Clark Smith both informationally, engagingly and happily also with age appropriate textual denseness and vocabulary choices (suitable to and for older children from about the age of seven or so onwards) presents the main highlights and lowlights of Jean-Henri Fabre’s life and career as an entomologist (that during his childhood, young Jean-Henri loved exploring and collecting natural treasures, including multitudes of different insects, how much during his married life and as a teacher he had to majorly struggle for acceptance of his ideas regarding insects, that insects are important and necessary spokes in probably all ecosystems, that they are interesting, well deserving of being studied and not simply feared and regarded as pests and as problematic, and how when Jean-Henri Fabre was almost ninety years of age, he and his writing were finally given the respect they deserve by him being nominated for the 1912 Nobel Prize for Literature, and although Fabre did not win, as the 1912 winner was German playwright Gerhart Hauptmann, even being nominated was obviously a huge accomplishment and vote of confidence). Combined with a detailed and extensive time line, a short but sufficiently detailed as well as delightfully annotated bibliography and a supplemental historical note, I have both very much enjoyed reading Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and his World of Insects and equally truly appreciated being narrationaly introduced to a 19th century French entomologist and author of whom I had actually and in fact never heard (but yes, I do kind of think that some of the information in the historical note is in my opinion more than a trifle repetitive, as too much of what Matthew Clark Smith textually presents in the text proper of Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and his World of Insects also subsequently appears in pretty much the same form in the historical note section). And finally, with regard to Giuliano Ferri’s artwork, his illustrations, I find them both lushly colourful and realistic, providing an aesthetically very much pleasant visual accompaniment and mirror to and for Matthew Clark Smith’s presented narrative, making Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and his World of Insects into a pretty solidly wonderful combination of text and images (although personally, I still do kind of wish that alongside of Ferri’s illustrations some actual photographs of in particular Jean-Henri Fabre and of his family were also included)

The Big Countdown: 30 Million Different Insects in the Rainforest

I can certainly see and also totally understand that children from about the age of eight or nine onwards who are really heavily into and interested in numbers and mathematics would probably, would likely find Paul Rockett’s 2015 infographics picture book The Big Countdown: 30 Million Different Insects in the Rainforest (as well as the other five books of the series and which all seem to follow a pretty well similar reading path as The Big Countdown: 30 Million Different Insects on the Rainforest) not only interesting and enlightening but also numerically challenging and engaging. However, for me and for my general aversion since childhood to all things mathematically and number themed, I do have to admit that both my adult self and my inner child are finding the absolutely incessant concentration on numbers, numbers, numbers I have encountered in The Big Countdown: 30 Million Different Insects in the Rainforest rather bit tedious and also quite frustratingly one sided, not enough for me to not at all enjoy The Big Countdown: 30 Million Different Insects in the Rainforest but definitely sufficient for me to feel more than a bit overwhelmed at times and annoyed at how totally math and numerical data oriented everything is. But nevertheless, the huge numbers by the millions presented in The Big Countdown: 30 Million Different Insects in the Rainforest regarding in particular the as yet undiscovered insect and plant species that likely exist in especially the vast expanses of the Amazon, this certainly should make anyone both child and adult realise that the rainforests absolutely do need to be protected from unscrupulous development, from logging and the like. And yes, even though there is a bit too much of a numerical emphasis provided by Paul Rockett for my own reading tastes and wants, that I am also not really all that aesthetically enamoured of Paul Ruffle’s at times a bit visually distracting and overly detailed artwork (which tends to overcrowd the pages and give me a bit of eye strain) and that the included bibliography is a good start but in my opinion (considering the rather massive amount of facts and data provided) should definitely be a bit more expansive, I will still consider The Big Countdown: 30 Million Different Insects in the Rainforest as highly recommendable and a very decent and very decently useable reference text to for both at home or in class instruction.

I find Julia Donaldson's Superworm horrible.

Although Julia Donaldson's Superworm is a fun enough and poetically rollicking little story (and yes indeed, Axel Scheffler's accompanying illustrations are once again a visually engaging and expressive compliment to Donaldson's presented verses), personally (and indeed as an adult reader) I have found Superworm not all that much to my tastes. For while the story of how Superworm both helps other animals and also acts like a skipping rope, a fishing rod, a hula hoop etc. is definitely fun and engaging, I cannot help but be more than a bit worried that young children might end up for example digging up an earthworm from the garden to try to imitate all of this. However, even more of an issue for me with regard to Superworm is that the two main villains absolutely and obviously need to be an evil lizard and an evil crow, two animal species that have often had over the millennia an undeservedly nasty and negative reputation (and indeed, I really do wish that Julia Donaldson would not be perpetuating the myth and superstition that lizards and crows are somehow not to be trusted, are evil, greedy and vile in and of themselves). Therefore, I for one am definitely not all that much impressed with and by the stereotypical villain depiction and portrayals in Superworm. And indeed, I really also do have to wonder and question whether Julia Donaldson herself might have some deep down fears and phobias, hatreds regarding specifically reptiles and crows (as truth be told, even in many of her other picture books, in particular crows and reptiles are often both depicted and described as being and appearing rather negatively at best).

For teenagers and adults, but I really have hated Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army and Other Diabolical Insects

Although Amy Stewart is of course quite correct pointing out that there are many insects which have been, can be and often still are massively destructive, her attitude in Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s Army and Other Diabolical Insects is in my opinion simply and at best massive ignorance personified. For she really does seem to think that all insect pests are this way simply because they are personality wise deliberately nasty and inherently evil, whereas any entomologist worth his or her salt could and hopefully would easily tell her that insects like all animals are struggling to successfully survive, to reproduce, to pass on their genes to further generations, and yes, that often might mean being parasitical, being destructive (or rather what we would consider destructive). And no, Ms. Stewart, just because some insects and perhaps even a great many of them do tend to negatively affect humans and our projects, our lives, that does NOT automatically make insects as a whole evil and anthropomorphically nasty, it just makes them or rather some of them potentially annoying and sometimes also a legitimate threat. But furthermore, considering how deliberately and willfully destructive humans in general are, how we have with full knowledge and yes even with overt acceptance trashed the earth and many of its ecosystems, and often still continue to blithely and carelessly do so (and how indeed, even many so-called insect pests have been introduced by US, by humans, into erstwhile pristine natural areas and ecosystems), honestly, how dare you call insects diabolical when you, Ms. Stewart really should at the very least also be condemning of humans and at least accept our own guilt here, that in many ways, destructive insects have thrived and proliferated due to our actions and behaviours. One star, and while I guess interestingly enough penned to an extent, I for one absolutely will not be recommending Wicked Bugs: The Louse that Conquered Napoleon’s Army and Other Diabolical Bugs (and really, Amy Stewart must be totally lacking in basic common sense if she considers the many insects that consume carrion and break down dead tissue as and I quote her horrible creatures, because guess what, these insects, and just like any carrion consuming animals, while how they make their living, how they eat and reproduce, might well look disgusting and perhaps even smell disgusting, they do in fact provide to the earth, including to us humans, an important and essential service, namely cleaning up rotting flesh, vegetation etc. and thereby preventing the spread of disease).

Bugs for Lunch

Yes indeed, Margery Facklam's short but rollicking, song-like verses for her 1999 picture book Bugs for Lunch are pretty much absolutely and totally facile and superficial with regard to their presented informational themes and contents. And as such, and due to the rather intense and obvious textual simplicity of Bugs for Lunch, children above the age of five or six could probably and easily (at least in my humble opinion) become more than a bit annoyed with how very little factual details regarding not only insects but in particular concerning the many living beings (from plants to human beings, and not to mention many species of insects themselves) that regularly consume "bugs" as a major part of their diet Margery Facklam in fact textually features within the pages of Bugs for Lunch. Because and unfortunately, even the supplemental details at the back of Bugs for Lunch are pretty sparse with regard to presented facts, figures etc. (and while Margery Facklam's words for Bugs for Lunch are certainly fun and engaging, my inner child has most definitely been majorly rebelling and wanting more, more, more both in the text proper of Bugs for Lunch and also in the supplemental details at the back).

And in fact, the only reason why my rating for Bugs for Lunch is still three and not two stars is that Sylivia Long's accompanying artwork is aesthetically spectacular and with so much depicted visual detail that I could well imagine young children (and perhaps even slightly older ones) poring over the featured illustrations and finding all kinds of interesting details to discover, to appreciate and to ask about. However, the fact that Sylvia Long's pictures do indeed and totally present considerably more than does (in any fashion) Margery Facklam's printed words, this also kind of demonstrates an annoying caesura between text and images and as such Bugs for Lunch is a picture book where I do kind of think that text does not all that successfully mirror image (and vice versa) and to the extent that I almost wish that Bugs for Lunch were a wordless picture book, that Margery Flackham's poetry actually did not exist (for if I am to be brutally honest, Sylvia Long's delightful and lush illustrations are for and to me rather weighed down by Margery Flackham's facile and seriously lacking with regard to factual information text).

Spiders

Nonfiction at its best, with crisp, sharp, close-up color photos and fascinating facts about different kinds of spiders.

Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest

I didn't write a review of this one, but young readers who are intersted in ancient animal history will be interested in reading about long ago, huge creatures such as 7-foot millipedes and giant dragonflies.

The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe

This is part of the Scientists in the Field series, and so is a top-notch investigation of the honey bee crisis.

Beetle Busters

This is another Scientists in the Field books, about the Asian Longhorned beetle, which is an invasive species in the U.S., and is responsible for killing hardwood trees in several states.

Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs!

So yes, Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs! is both textually and illustratively engaging and exuberant, and with the combination of author Megan McDonald’s text and illustrator Jane Manning’s accompanying artwork creating a delightfully fun slice of (probably elementary) school life, but also and importantly showing to the intended audience, demonstrating to the so-called picture book crowd the important message that one should definitely and certainly be increasingly adventurous with regard to food and both willing and able to try different types of foods (and that yes, this also should include so-called bugs, this should pertain to foods made with, incorporating insects, arachnids, worms, diverse types of fungi etc., and with the scenes in Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs! where Chef Suzanne brings out all kinds of bug laced recipes for Beetle McGrady and her classmates to try having me vacillating between being rather grossed and creeped out but also being in fact curious enough to actually want to experience eating insects, ants and the like for myself at some point in the future). But while for me personally, Megan McDonald’s presented narrative for Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs! is in fact a bit too heavily and primarily focussed on consuming “bugs” (and with this textually feeling just a trifle repetitive and as such also mildly tedious), and albeit that according to my personal aesthetics, Jane Manning’s colourful illustrations are entertaining and bright but also rather a bit too stylised and too cartoony for my own visual tastes, I still do think that for children from about the age of four to seven or eight (and in particular so for young boys), Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs! will more than likely be quite massively entertaining and appealing and in particular with regard to the potential “yuck” factor of having an entire picture book story on a classroom full of children not only discussing eating insects and other potential creepy crawlies, but actually and actively doing so (and that yes, hopefully the message of trying out different types of foods no matter how strange and uncanny to and for our European inspired palates this might be will also hit home, so that Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs! will not only be yuck inducing but also make children more willing to be adventurous eaters and to try even foods like termites, mealworms, grasshoppers, ants and the like).

Cheryl struggles to catch up wrote: "Be Nice to Spiders is on openlibrary (though with one small bit of text unreadable). What a discovery! Great book! Too bad it wasn't popular enough at the time of publication!

Also,..."

I'm so glad you liked this one. It's one of my favorites since childhood. And, so glad you mentioned Eric Carle. Of course, I loved The Very Hungry Caterpillar :-)

The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook is not perhaps specifically geared towards children. But it is definitely appropriate for readers beyond the age of ten or so and the recipes are all pretty standard and simple, exception course that they feature insects (and including pests like cockroaches) as main ingredients.

Well, considering that insects are very much and even regularly eaten in almost every corner of the world and often even as a major part of many people's diets (except of course seemingly in Europe, the United States and Canada), I really do have major issues understanding why the only longer review on Goodreads labels David George Gordon's The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook as being and I quote utter crap. Because in my humble opinion, the reviewer does not really ever give any legitimate and academically sound reasons for such an assessment, except that he obviously considers it a bit of a stretch for David George Gordon to assume that potential insect cookers and consumers will go out foraging outside (and in their domiciles) for bugs to cook, bake etc. but then rather weirdly fails to point out that The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook actually presents a pretty decent list of addresses where one can purchase insects and/or insect parts for consumption and for cookery.

And indeed, not only are the featured factual details on entomophagy (on eating insects) which David George Gordon features in the introduction to The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook informative, educational, well researched and naturally humorous without the author having to resort to gross-out dramatics (and yes, I also very much do appreciate that there is an included bibliography with suggestions for further reading, as well as the already mentioned above addresses listing places where one can purchase insects for cooking purposes for The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook, and not to mention that I as someone with graduate degrees in German literature am also totally left smiling at the samosa with cockroaches recipe being called by David George Gordon Gregor Samsa's Samosa with its obvious and delightful allusion to Franz Kafka's novella Die Verwandlung), the featured recipes in The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook all seem to be pretty easy to prepare and with in fact the most unusual ingredients often only being the insects, the diverse and different bugs (and with my only mild annoyance being the absence of colour with regard to the presented visuals and that The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook also has not photographs of the end products, of the prepared insect infused foods).

But would I actually consider preparing any of the presented insect recipes of The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook? And yes, being an adventuresome eater, I probably would. However, my partner is not only a very picky eater, he is also really easily grossed out and creeped out by insects, so no, I will therefore not be making any of the recipes featured in The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook, as I really do not think it would be in any way even remotely acceptable for me to either make or eat anything containing insects as a main ingredient if this would or might disgust and perhaps even sicken my significant other.

Oh and by the way, there also seems to be a revised edition of the The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook (but since I have not read it, I do not know what David George Gordon has changed).

Do You Wonder Why Bugs Are Good? by T. Albert* takes an interesting (first) look at children's misconceptions about bugs, and especially of bugs being "weird" and "gross" and "bad."

Betty spots a bug in her family's vegetable garden, and she doesn't like that there are so many bugs all over the place. She wants to squish it, and all the bugs in the garden. Grandpa tells her not to, because it's a praying mantis, which is a good bug. But how can bugs be good, Betty wonders. Grandpa decides to take her on a bug safari.

This is a good book about bugs as well as gardening, and I like that it approaches it from a place of children's misconceptions. I get so many kids every day who freak out because there are so many bugs near them on the playground. "Eww, a bug. There are too many bugs here." Me: "Yes, you're outside. You're in their home, they're not in yours. Be respectful of nature." The way that Do You Wonder Why Bugs Are Good ? approaches these conversations in the exact way that they often happen, and I appreciate that there is a book out there that addresses this for young kids.

*T. Albert is the original author, however, there was a (potentially plagiarized) version or something by Joseph Mora that was available for free on Amazon for a short time. It's since been taken down, but this free version is the version I originally had. I've compared both books and they are exactly the same. Albert is the rightful author.

How to Eat Fried Worms

Although Thomas Rockwell's How to Eat Fried Worms was very much a personal favourite when it was read to me (to our whole class) in grade five, as an adult rereading this novel, I unfortunately feel that How to Eat Fried Worms has lost much if not most of its charm, in other words, that it has not aged all that well. For the antics of Billy Forrester and his friends (and of course, his adversaries, his nemeses), they now leave me, at best, only very mildly amused, and more often than not actually rather majorly annoyed. I mean, eating fifteen large earthworms (nightcrawlers) for a silly wager, while this might have appealed to me as an eleven year old, as an adult, it makes me rather shudder (and I actually also feel sorry and some compassion for the poor worms, and especially the last nightcrawler that is literally consumed alive, not to mention that Billy's and Alan's bet is for something like fifty dollars, a pretty large amount of money that could in my opinion encourage imitation, even gambling). However, and that all being said, I guess I can to a point both still see and appreciate the lasting appeal of How to Eat Fried Worms (and in particular for girls and especially boys between the ages of eight to around twelve); after all, my eleven year old self absolutely loved this. And perhaps one could consider the fact that Billy not only manages to eat all of the required fifteen earthworms, but actually becomes "hooked" on them, that he begins to enjoy eating them as a food source, as somewhat of a mildly didactic authorial message to not simply disdain different, strange or exotic seeming foods until one has tasted them, until one has at least tried them (but this potential is not really enough for me anymore, as the erstwhile magic and delight of How to Eat Fried Worms that I experienced in grade five has by now quite lastingly dissipated).

Beetles, Lightly Toasted

Although Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's 1989 middle grade novel Beetles, Lightly Toasted is in many ways not only rather reminiscent of Thomas Rockwell's 1973 story How to Eat Fried Worms but also in my opinion more than a trifle derivative, the main premise of Beetles, Lightly Toasted is though not quite as frivolous as in How to Eat Fried Worms, since main protagonist Andy Moller wants to win the annual fifth grade essay contest and get his picture in the local newspaper with a pretty legitimate topic on conservation and for which he, for which Andy has ingeniously considered and chosen the positives, or at least the potential positives of consuming insects, of making recipes with diverse bugs as main ingredients (while in How to Eat Fried Worms, everything totally and annoyingly just hinges on some silly bet if Billy Forrester is able to eat fifteen nightcrawler earthworms). And while as an adult reader, I certainly do find the rather obvious similarities between Beetles, Lightly Toasted and How to Eat Fried Worms a bit narrationally problematic, I would certainly not ever go so far as to in any way accuse Phyllis Reynold Naylor of actually having plagiarised from Thomas Rockwell (as I do appreciate how as previously mentioned that the reasons why Andy Moller is deciding to make foods containing insects are indeed interesting and also much more legitimate than Thomas Rockwell’s Billy Forrester with his tendency for making crazy bets, my uncomfortableness with the textual similarities of both novels more than a bit notwithstanding).

Now as far as Beetles, Lighlty Toasted rates as a story in and of itself, and although the opening chapters do feel a bit narrationally slow and dragging, well, as soon as Andy decides to base his essay for the newspaper contest on cooking and taste testing diverse insect including recipes with regard to conservation in mind, the narrative pace of Beetles, Lightly Toasted certainly does pick up quite notch, and Andy as a protagonist also then becomes increasingly likeable and relatable as a character (although yes, that Andy in Beetles, Lightly Toasted is so picky an eater that he forces friends and neighbours to taste his insect cuisine creations but refuses to do so himself, while this is of course both funny and entertaining, it is also for me personally majorly frustrating, as I have had far too many issues with entitled and constantly complaining eaters over the decades).

But sadly and finally, even though Beetles, Lightly Toasted has been generally a decently enjoyable and entertaining personal reading experience (and yes, totally aside from how akin much of Phyllis Reynolds Naylor’s featured text is to Thomas Rockwell), that in Beetles, Lightly Toasted the one "token" African American family is textually described and shown by Naylor using (and in particular for 1989) some majorly annoying and bordering on the unacceptable stereotypes is truly majorly rubbing me the wrong proverbial way, with the family supposedly having skin the colour of gravy, running a soul food restaurant and so on and so on. And although the interracial friendship between Andy and Sam is obviously well-intentioned by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor and also serves as a positive element in Beetles, Lightly Toasted, Sam as a character and especially if compared to Andy is annoyingly one-dimensional and rather a strange collage of clichés (and honestly, this is pretty impossible to either ignore or to make light of in Beetles, Lightly Toasted and in particular if and when it comes from the pen of a noted and celebrated children's author such as Phyllis Reynolds Naylor).

The Bog Baby by Jeanne Willis is a good reminder that nature should be left to be natural, as well as a permeating idea that all creatures have some magic in them.

Two sisters lie and say they're going to a friend's house to play, but they actually find a secret pond that only exists in the spring. They want to catch a newt, but instead, they find a Bog Baby. They take it home and they want to share it with their mom, but then she'd know that they didn't go to Annie's to play. And the Bog Baby seems happy to be their pet... at first. But one day, it stops doing its happy dance, and the girls are faced with the hard choice of telling their mom so they can get it help or keeping their secret that they didn't go to Annie's.

I like that this shows both what happens when you keep wild animals as "pets" and what happens when you let them go. This story has a good moral and teaches a fairly explicit lesson of how animals have a place in nature above all else. It's a really sweet and timeless story.

Masterpiece

So yes, with her 2008 middle grade novel Masterpiece Elise Broach demonstrates to her young readers the intersection between two very different worlds, how behind a wall in the fancy Upper East Side (NYC) kitchen of the Pompaday family lives a chatty and cheerful beetle family, with mother and father Beetle doting on their son Marvin, all of course unbeknownst to the Pompadays, especially the arrogant, status-conscious, real-estate-selling mother and her perpetually grouchy second husband, and where unlike with beetle boy Marvin's nearest and dearest, family love and acceptance is indeed in very short supply. For in and throughout Masterpiece Mrs. Pompaday is depicted by Elise Broach as being totally emotionally distant and massively insensitive to the needs of her lonely 11-year-old son, James, who misses his biological (and artistic) father and wishes his parents had not gotten divorced, and where Marvin, observing James in secret, longs to befriend the boy (although in my opinion, other than a generic sympathy one might feel for an unhappy outsider, it does feel a trifle strange and rather beggaring belief that Elise Broach never really manages to textually convey all that well within the pages of Masterpiece why Marvin in fact so desperately wants to befriend the rather undemonstrative and taciturn James, other than the fact that James did refrain from stomping on Marvin when they had a chance encounter in the kitchen).

But well, Marvin the beetle does indeed feel the urge to actively bridge the gap between his (insect) world and James' (human) world, and on the night of James’s birthday party, Marvin leaves a gift for James, but then gets seduced by one of James' birthday gifts, a bottle of ink and some paper (with Marvin dipping his front legs into the ink then creating a perfectly rendered miniature replica of the wintry scene outside). And of course, when Marvin's aesthetically delightful drawing is discovered in the morning, first by James and then by his family, the latter bien sûr assume James to be the artist, hypothetically start oohingly gushing over James' supposed genius and talent, but also and immediately want to sell the drawing (responses that might feel a trifle forced and artificial at first, but are also rather realistic and unsurprising, considering how much in Masterpiece Elise Broach depicts James' mother in particular as absolutely and utterly materialistic and only interesting in making money and selling estate, but yes, said attitude certainly does destroy and subvert the pure joy of creating and making art by causing the artist to become overly aware of the presence of critics and that art is supposedly and sadly first and foremost meant to be sold as a commodity).

And while the art heist and mystery aspect of Masterpiece (which occurs when a museum curator likens Marvin's drawing to those of Albrecht Dürer) certainly makes Masterpiece exciting and increasingly fast moving, any sense that Masterpiece might be about the unfolding and the appreciation of Marvin's talent and creative impulses (and the developing friendship between beetle and boy, between Marvin and James) is sadly muddied and majorly diminished, leaving Masterpiece at least for me as a story with a number of promising narrative and thematic threads, but as ultimately fizzling out with regard to what indeed should be most essential and important here (art for art's sake and that both art and friendship need to be about universality and diversity, and that with regard to the creative process, monetary values should not at all count or at least only count for very little).

What Bug Am I? by Skye Wade was quite a bit different than I expected it to be. While it is primarily fantasy with animal and insect characters, it also borders on nonfiction in the way bug facts are presented.

A little (newborn? but not a larvae lol) bug doesn't know what kind of bug he is. He approaches a ladybug to ask if he's like her. She goes over her features and they determine that he's definitely not a ladybug. The next page contains ladybug photos and facts about how ladybugs move, what they eat, and a few fun facts. The unidentified bug goes with the ladybug to talk to all the other bugs, but the little bug cannot find anyone who's enough like him.

This book would be a good introduction to bugs for younger kids, and it would be fun to guess along with the unidentified bug and ladybug whether or not that bug species is a match. Students with more experience with bugs may also be able to identify what species they are looking for in terms of the unidentified bug, and for that reason you may need to be wary using this one in a classroom because of kids who may give away spoilers, especially for younger children. There is quite a bit of text per page, so this may need to be read in chunks, especially with younger students and/or as a read-aloud, because it is a little difficult to concentrate on both the story and the facts. I guess it would depend on age, reading and listening ability, and the purpose for using this text.

I read this as an ebook, and the page formatting for that is a little confusing. I'd be interested to know if the hard copy has the story and facts as a double-page spread. This is definitely a book I would like to read and maybe acquire in print format as well.

I have done some browsing regarding fiction featuring creepy crawlies, and thus far, I have not found any topics about a character wanting to be an entomologist (and yes, the novels about eating creepy crawlies have been a bit lacking at best for me, as my reviews I think show and the one about the Beetle turned artist was too much mystery and not enough art and philosophy, with me definitely a bit disappointed that Masterpiece was not considerably more kafkaesque in scope).

Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner is an excellent picture book biography and for those looking for a book about someone wanting to become an entomologist it might fit the bill.

I am really enjoying The Compleat Cockroach: A Comprehensive Guide to the Most Despised (And Least Understood) Creature on Earth, and although David George Gordon has not really conceptualised The Compleat Cockroach: A Comprehensive Guide to the Most Despised (And Least Understood) Creature on Earth for children, the combination of fact and entertainment (and penned in a very light, breezy and naturally humorous style) make this definitely a book suitable for young readers above the age of ten. More when I have actually finished with The Compleat Cockroach: A Comprehensive Guide to the Most Despised (And Least Understood) Creature on Earth, as at present I am right in medias res so to speak.

Oh! and I loved Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and His World of Insects, another picture book biography about an entomologist.

Kathryn wrote: "Oh! and I loved Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and His World of Insects, another picture book biography about an etymologist."

I loved this as well, but I have not been all that lucky finding actual children's fiction about entomologists.

Manybooks wrote: "I have not been all that lucky finding actual children's fiction about entomologists."

Yes, I agree the fiction about etymologists or budding etymologists is hard to find.