Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest [Hardcover]

Timothy J. Bradley (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 16, 2008 | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Paleo

What could be creepier than a 390 million-year-old cockroach? How about a 320 million-year-old millipede that's seven feet long! These crawlies and their many-legged cousins are featured in this follow-up to Paleo Sharks.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 3–7—Large, digitally colored pencil sketches will draw readers into this appealing title about prehistoric arthropods and their relatives. The book is organized into sections about bugs of the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. Each one begins with a visual and textual vignette in which readers are asked to imagine the sights and sounds of the environment of the time. Then several species of that period are each given a full page or spread that includes a vivid picture and up-to-date information based on the fossil record. A clever visual sidebar compares the size of the bug with a human child, and a second sidebar elucidates a scientific discovery or compares the ancient species to its modern-day descendant. Absolutely necessary pronunciation guides appear as needed. The bibliography is divided into titles for "younger readers" and for "older readers and adults." A few small grammatical glitches do not detract from the value of this title. Its good science, excellent organization, and eye-catching illustrations make it a fine choice for browsers and researchers.—Ellen Heath, Easton Area Public Library, Easton, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

The creator of Paleo Sharks (2007) offers a similarly eye-widening gallery of extinct arthropods, from the mayfly-like heptagenia to a seven-foot-long arthropleura. While properly noting that fossil records provide few clues about coloration and fine details, Bradley decks out each of his painted figures in bright hues, poses them in natural settings—usually crawling or swimming directly toward the viewer—and sets them aside a human hand or body in silhouette to suggest scale. The accompanying descriptions tend to sound alike, but Bradley systematically includes scientific names for each creature, as well as information that is as precise as current knowledge allows. It would have been better had less of the text been printed on dark brown backgrounds, but readers will still pore over the pictures and come away knowing more about both these extinct animals and their modern descendants. Grades 5-8. --John Peters

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (April 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811860221
• ISBN-13: 978-0811860222
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #764,867 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Nature > Fossils

More About the Author

Tim Bradley has been fascinated by the distant past and the far future from a young age, and filled many sketchpads with drawings of dinosaurs, robots, and spaceships.

As a professional artist, Tim has had the opportunity to work with amazingly talented artists like Syd Mead (Blade Runner, Tron, 2010, Aliens), and companies like Hasbro (Tim worked on Transformers, Star Wars, and Jurassic Park toys).

Lately, Tim has been writing and illustrating non-fiction natural history books for children, with compelling text, and the dynamic, colorful renderings he has become known for. Tim's books have earned awards and accolades from reviewers (The Horn Book, School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist), and he has been invited to hold author signing events at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, The Field Museum, and the National Aquarium.

Tim's most recent projects are middle-grade, illustrated "hard" science fiction novels, in the style of Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov, whose books inspired Tim's imagination as a child.

You can check out some of Tim's work at his website: http://web.mac.com/raptoryx13

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for kids and adults, October 20, 2009

By 

D. Powers (GA, U.S.A.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest (Hardcover)

This book (and the series) are excellent! The author put much thought not only into the text of the book, but also the layout. The small added touches add a great deal to kids' enjoyment of these books.

I read this book to my son and daughter and both enjoyed it immensely. The younger one was fascinated by the pictures and the side bars comparing the size of the creature discussed to a human. The older one liked the graphics but also focused more on the text.

Because of this, I would recommend this book to anyone who has children in the 6+ age for the pictures and side bars. If you have children in the middle school range, this may be a little beneath them but the text is quite informative and does not talk down to the reader at all. I highly recommend for adults as well, if you like ancient insects.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SB&F magazine two-star review (highest rating), October 21, 2008

By 

saurian (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest (Hardcover)

"If most young people and, in many cases, even adults were asked to describe fossils, it is very likely that they would focus on exhibits of the enormous reconstructed skeletons in a museum they may have visited or on the often imaginary animals portrayed in Hollywood films. Few would include an ancient world that was far more diverse, inhabited by a vast array of life-forms ranging from the "megalife" of dinosaurs to the smallest of creatures that first appeared more than 500 million years ago. Using his own creative talents as an artist and writer, as well as the talents of other artists and of paleontologists, Timothy J. Bradley, in Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest, describes, illustrates, and discusses the behavior of the numerous insects that lived in the past, ranging from those that lived in the Paleozoic to those that filled the world of the early Cenozoic. He then compares each of these "bugs," as he likes to call them, with their possible descendants that inhabit the world today. The author's "nimble prose" makes the book easy to read, even for younger children, and the abundant, colorful illustrations are well crafted, fascinating, and compelling. Don't be surprised to see the reader of this book out in the field or in some other place, turning over logs, rocks, or other possible hiding places to search out and study contemporary insects that he or she has just learned so much about. It's that kind of book."

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Paleo bug book, September 20, 2010

By 

W. Hamrick "thamrick" (Lakeland, Fl) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiest (Hardcover)

Good book (and I thought my boys had them all). Seems accurate and details are there when they read further.