From Publishers Weekly
In a city park, in the shadow of tulips and blades of grass, preparations for a glamorous party are under way. Ants and dragonflies construct a ballroom floor out of playing cards and movie-candy boxes, saving the jujubes for the buffet table. As night falls, a top-hatted grasshopper invites everyone to participate: "Don't hang from the ceiling./ Don't crawl up the wall./ Dance, dance, dance./ It's the Big Bug Ball." Six-legged couples twirl across the floor, lit (how else?) by fireflies. A smarmy cockroach stands poised to pounce on the smorgasbord, despite the aristocratic grasshopper's disapproval ("Cockroach, cockroach,/ don't eat all the food./ Termite, do not eat the table./ It's so rude!"). A sow bug shyly rolls into a pill at the thought of boogying, but the bug of her dreams coaxes her out of her shell. Lillegard's (The Poombah of Badoombah) rhyming text highlights the sow bug's romantic interlude, while Barron's (who teamed with the author for The Wild Bunch) detailed illustrations develop the narrative with subplots featuring other quirky personalities: the cockroach, dressed in a white disco suit, strikes a Saturday Night Fever pose; a cricket clad in overalls saws the fiddle; a centipede plays piano by running along the keys. Thanks to the variety of lively attendees, the eveningAlike the volume itselfAis a success. Ages 4-8. (May)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K-An entertaining, rhyming tale of an insect celebration, set in a city park. The grasshopper master of ceremonies calls all insects to join in the merriment, while "Centipede plays piano./Cricket plays the fiddle./Old Cicada plays the drums./Hey Diddle Diddle!" Clever and colorful, the double-page, detailed illustrations reveal the assorted critters as they haul various items from a garbage can to create a platform for dancing in the tulip bed. As night approaches, lightning bugs perch on fork handles to illuminate the dance floor, which is composed of candy boxes covered with playing cards. There is even a Saturday Night Fever John Travolta cockroach who takes center stage with his partner, and a bashful sow bug who learns to dance and finds romance. For a thematic storytime, use this with Linda Lowery's Twist with a Burger, Jitter with a Bug (Ticknor & Fields, 1995) and have, well, a ball!-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
