Customer Reviews

Bugs!

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a good book. It's gross and charmingly off-beat, just as the other reviewers claim. It also rhymes and makes a good out-loud read. And it is very, very outlandishly funny.

However, we also have David T. Greenberg's book Snakes! and it is just as appealingly gross and much funnier. Plus, the rhymes work a bit better for out loud reading. If you are only getting one of his books, I'd go for Snakes!

But before you buy, a quick warning! Neither this book or the Snakes! book are for kids who take things literally or who are easily frightened. I'd only recommend them for children who really "get" puns, word plays and jokes. It is the perfect book for older kids who still love to have books read out loud to them.

P.Gould, co-author of Feeding the Kids: The Flexible, No-Battles, Healthy Eating System for the Whole Family

This book is just plain gross... but ALSO, it is truly funny! I get a big kick out of the fast paced jaunty way it reads out loud, and the way it makes your skin crawl as you read it.

My son who is 2 may be a little young for it...he may even go out and eat a bug because of it. I think it was a little creepy to him at first (with the boy riding on a REALLY big black spider), but now he requests it, and enjoys the funny illustrations as well. It is not scary by any means, but more silly and gross. I recommended this book for kids ages 3+ for a creepy crawly good reading time.

I checked this book out from my local public library to read to my children, ages 6 and 3. Not only did my children find it an enjoyable book, they wanted to keep it. It has ben passed around my children's school, and has only recieved great reviews by the teachers. It is a book that will be added to the school's library.

David Greenberg's book, Bugs!, crawls with humor and entertainment for all ages. I absolutely love it! The story in verse is original, fast paced, and definitely stimulates the imagination using more of the readers' senses than just sight. Tastebuds balk at the thought of eating a squirting bug. Ears hear the loud crunch of that first imagined bite. Noses begin to scrunch up as stinkbugs are sprinkled over a salad. Skin twitches with feelings of being crawled on. The author's style is grossly hilarious and quite clever. His ridiculous use of the bugs is sure to keep the interest of readers, even reluctant ones. Surprise and the unexpected are the usual bill of fare in this book, especially the ending. Lynn Munsinger's colorful illustrations further complement the story. Each bug is characterized with individual personalities through the various facial features and expressions. None of the bugs, even the creepier ones, appear fierce or frightening. They lean more towards harmless, lovable, and/or goofy looking. The illustrations and text are in harmony and together create a light hearted, amusing story in verse.

I am quite surprised that no one has mentioned how mean-spirited this book truly is. Now, I'm no tree hugger or member of PETA, and I'm not simply someone who doesn't "get it" (I am a professional writer myself). But I happen to have two kids who really love bugs. They love hunting for them in our backyard, playing with them, building little "bug houses" for them, and then releasing the insects, no harm done, back into the wild. Therefore, you can imagine how disturbed they were to read a book that mentions eating live bugs for fun, frying live bugs on the BBQ grill, or pulling parts of a bug out with tweezers to make a sweater. The illustrations demonstrate this bug torture with cute-looking bug cartoons, complete with wide-open bug eyes that stare out at their torturers as if in a horror film. One particular illustration was downright sick; it showed a child stabbing a bug on his dinner plate with a fork, while the bug looked up at him and green stuff squirted out of the creature. My kids made me shut the book at this point because they were so disturbed. Yes, as previous reviewers have said, the book is totally gross and (one could argue) humorous at certain points. But overall, too mean to be fun. I'm shocked this got such good reviews. Parents, beware.

This book is really gross and disgusting. I seriously felt ill after reading it. Who wants to imagine maggots all over their food? Or lice? Or eating bugs? Or ripping bugs apart?

Besides that, I didn't really find it funny. My daughter kept asking me if it was funny because the illustrations looked like it would be. But I didn't really find anything funny in it. Absurd, yes, but not funny.

The rhythm of this book is off in some places and fine in other places. At one point, I actually turned to the back cover to see if this was an actual published book and not a self-published creation. Indeed, this author was actually published somehow. I have to wonder who read this text and decided they just had to publish it. Really? Ick.

I have a son as well who is interested in bugs and likes funny books (books that actually ARE funny, that is). But liking bugs and wanting to imagine licking, eating, pulling apart and wearing bugs is another story. Really unnecessary. This book goes beyond fun and into the disturbing.

As my 6-foot-tall son was walking out the door this morning to high school, he called out, "Don't forget to order 'Bugs' on Amazon.com." We read this book when he was little and had it memorized. It's fun; it's gross; it's perfect for kids who hate to read and dislike poetry. Our whole family recommends it, even ten years later! These are the kind of books that are clever and fun and even kids with ADHD love them.

This book is about all kinds of bugs. My kids ages 5 to 9 were all glued to this one again and again. The illustrations are absolutely the best I've seen. They are so cute and funny and there are tons of different types shown. The pages are overflowing! The gross out factor is high for instance "Oh, in your clothes they're restin, in your nose theyre nestin, there isn't any question, theyre infestin your intestine" and "now, you may have had a hunch, if you bite bugs they will crunch, this is true but stay alert - the fat ones sometimes squirt." Then, the illustrations show the picute of a boy forking a huge bug on a plate and green guts spraying out. My kids were uttering "ooooh yuck" and "oh, he's cute" throughout the book and wanted it read again when we were done. If your kid likes bugs and the gross out factor, this book is for him or her.

This is one of those silly books that kids (and adults that still have a lot of kid in them) love! It is quirky and is loaded with gross pictures of bugs and very strange suggestions as to what to do with them. The art work is great and the rhyming text is a pleasure to read. A tremendous amount of imagination and work has gone into this work and it has certainly paid off. This is one of the most checked out books in the local school libraries for the young ones. They just enjoy looking at the pictures. This is also a fun book to read with your child or a group of school kids. The bugs depicted and the uses they are put to are so ridiculous that I doubt a child, any child, would take it very serious. Most children are bright enough to spot a "put on" when they see it, so I don't think their is much worry in that department. If you are looking for a fun, interesting and very, very funny book to read with your child, then you probably should give this one a try. The art work alone is worth the price of the book.

I have bought most of these books for my 6 year old son. They are a little creepy, but for boys, they are terrific fun! And for me too, to be able to get into "character" reading them. I would highly recommend these series of books for anyone who has a child who loves animals, and bugs. Great fun, if you can get through it!