THE BEST BOOK OF BUGS

If readers could crawl through the grass on six legs or float overhead on gossamer wings, the views this radiantly illustrated book provides might well reflect their world. This introduction to insects covers the basic bugs children discover: beetles, butterflies, ants, bees, and dragonflies, as well as spiders and a few other non-arthropods, e.g., snails and worms. Some elementary facts are provided on each creature; played out in step-by-step pictures is a caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a butterfly, as is a fierce dragonfly nymph’s capture of a tadpole. The facts are common to most bug books, but the pictures are so eye-catching they fairly steal the show. Occasional captions point out individual features, such as the difference between the abdomens of a butterfly and a moth, or the various webs spun by spiders. The full-color cut-aways of ant colonies and bee hives, as well as the verdant overviews of the rainforest and deciduous forest floors, remove the “creepiness” of these crawly creatures and make them resemble living jewels. (diagrams, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 6-9)