Wriggle and Buzz: My First Book of Bugs

Gr 1-5–A poetic tour through the world of insects and critters that is at turns gross, surprising, and just plain wonderful. The book is divided into three sections: “Meet the Bugs,” “Beautiful Beasts,” and “­Working ­Together.” Many of the more familiar bugs are r­epresented—ladybugs are here, as are earthworms and bumblebees. But a fair ­number of the bugs featured are lesser-known and often surprising. Readers will be amazed by the bug that shoots a toxic fluid from its rear end and another that builds houses made of sticks on its back. Expect readers to want to look up more facts about the strange and bizarre bugs featured here. The poems vary in length and format, but all are vivid and well-done. Mixed-media illustrations have a nicely textured, cut-paper look. An extremely helpful section in the back clears up the often confused distinction of which crawly critters are classified as insects and which are arachnids, crustaceans, myriapods, etc. There are also pages with suggestions of things children can do to protect bugs and their habitats. ­