Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! [Hardcover]

Bob Barner (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

Pretty ladybugs, fluttering butterflies, creepy daddy longlegs, and roly-poly bugs are some of the familiar creatures featured in this whimsically illustrated insect album. Complete with an "actual size" chart and bug-o-meter listing fun facts about each bug, Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! will inform and entertain curious little bug lovers everywhere.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Barner (Dem Bones) creates an enthusiastic book crawling with splashy bugs. From the eager, impatient first lineA"Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! I want to see bugs!"Athe book's narrative voice grabs attention, but it's the butterfly-bright multimedia artwork that makes this book soar. Using cut and torn paper, pen and ink, watercolors and a computer, Barner creates compositions that buzz with color. The "fuzzy caterpillar with tiny feet" has a slightly skewed smile, buggy eyes and a long red body that swirls across a lemon-yellow spread; funky amoeba-like blobs floating by echo the electric colors and irregular, concentric circles of the caterpillar's spots. A spread with "actual size bugs" adds a more educational note, and older kids can study the "Bug-O-Meter," a chart that shows whether or not the eight featured creatures can fly, the number of legs they have, etc. Aspiring entomologists will develop a friendly, appreciative attitude toward the bugs they're most likely to encounter, and Barner's playful use of colors, shapes and words may even convert bug foes. Ages 2-6. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Budding entomologists will fly to this book like bees to honey. In language simple enough to appeal to toddlers, the whimsical rhyming text describes buzzing bees, fuzzy caterpillars, hopping grasshoppers, fluttering butterflies, and curly roly-poly bugs. The cut-paper collage illustrations vibrate with color, showing a busy world full of big-eyed, smiling insects that seem ready to crawl off the page. The book ends with actual-sized illustrations of the creatures and a "Bug-O-Meter" that lists a few of their characteristics, such as where they live and how many legs they have. Preschool teachers can pair this book with Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Philomel, 1969) for a fun way to teach simple facts about insects. The bright colors and easy text will be a hit at storytime. Buy multiple copies and start saving egg cartons and pipe cleaners for insect-related crafts.
Dawn Amsberry, formerly at Oakland Public Library, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; Library Binding edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811822389
• ISBN-13: 978-0811822381
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #95 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Bugs & Spiders

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Color, Fantasy, and Science, August 1, 2001

By 

Peter Lin (worcester, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! (Hardcover)

I think this is a great book for children from birth to age 6 or 7. The illustrations are wild and wacky collages, showing insects with anatomical accuracy but also cartoonish personality.

Eight insects are each described in rhyming phrases. At the end there is a page showing all the bugs in their actual size, and then there is a chart that lists the bugs and compares their characteristics (where does it live, how many legs, etc.) These pages add a "multi-media" aspect that keeps kids interested.

The thing I like most about this book is that although the text is sweet and melodic, it has scientific content. Each phrase describes a real aspect of the insect (A long line of ants that work so much, Roly-poly bugs that curl up when I touch). The book also introduces pictoral and graph comparisons and the idea of taxonomy in a fun way, preparing kids for further studies in science.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!!!, October 12, 2000

By 

Daphne Breese (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! (Hardcover)

I purchased this book when my son was only 6 months old, since then, he is now a year old, I have had to "contact-paper" the pages, it's been read, and chewed on so often. This is a fabulous book for teaching children that bugs aren't all bad, and my son loves the bright, fun illustrations. Bob Barner has done a wonderful job of showing children where to find the different insects, whether they crawl or fly, and even what size they are in real-life. I know that as my son gets older and is able to "understand" what I'm reading him, he'll love to go investigating in the garden to find the various critters. Oh joy!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My daughte LOVES this book!, June 10, 2003

By 

M. Allen "mo70" (Gaithersburg, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! (Hardcover)

My daughter is 14 months old and she absolutely loves this book. She pages through it over and over again. We have a pile of about 20 books for her to "read" and this is always the first book she grabs. She points to the bugs and we say the name and then she'll turn the page and continue. She loves the bright color pages. I just wish it came in board book version, because she's wearing out the pages. She is just one, so she's a little rough on paper pages. ;) I love the page in the back that teaches you about the insects.