insectlopedia [Hardcover]

Douglas Florian (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

“Mosquitoes are thin./Mosquitoes are rude./They feast on your skin/For take-out food.” Children will delight in the playful language and hilarious illustrations while they learn about twenty-one insects that will bug or beguile them. From swooping dragonflies and twirling whirligig beetles to marching army ants and feasting mosquitoes, here is one pest infestation you’ll welcome into your home!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A perfect springtime accompaniment to actual bugs, Insectlopedia swarms, buzzes, and slithers with poetry and paint. Douglas Florian, creator of the award-winning Beast Feast, On the Wing, and In the Swim, has succeeded again, this time with a delightful infestation of 21 spider and insect poems and paintings, awash in watercolor and collage on primed brown paper bags.

Well-loved for his clever wordplay (complete with endearingly shameless visual and verbal puns), Florian manages to seamlessly blend science with pure whimsy. Take "The Praying Mantis," for example: "Upon a twig/I sit and pray/For something big/To wend my way;/A caterpillar,/Moth,/or bee--/I swallow them/Religiously." His rhythmic chant "The Weevils" begins, "We are weevils./We are evil./We've aggrieved/Since time primeval." Add a few inchworms, moths, and whirligig beetles, and you have the blisteringly funny, stingingly clever Insectlopedia, the perfect book for emerging entomologists and budding poets alike. (All ages)

From Publishers Weekly

"The silly, imaginative verses about whirligig beetles and waterbugs (almost) match the exquisite pictures in playfulness and wit. The result is downright stunning," said PW. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 56 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1st edition (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152013067
• ISBN-13: 978-0152013066
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Education & Reference > Encyclopedias > Veterinary

More About the Author

Douglas Florian is the creator of many acclaimed picture books including Dinothesaurus, which received starred reviews in four major publications, Comet, Stars, The Moon and Mars, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and Horn Book Fanfare List selection; Bow Wow Meow Meow, winner of the Gryphon Award and a Parents Magazine Best Book of the Year; and Lizards, Frogs and Polliwogs, a Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book. He lives with his family in New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pure delight!, July 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: insectlopedia (Hardcover)

As a children's author myself, I look at a LOT of picture books each year. INSECTLOPEDIA was one I simply had to have. The poems and art are equally witty, and it seems to me the perfect gift book, to be enjoyed and appreciated by children (and adults) of all ages. Every time I show it to someone, we find something new to delight us in the art work. A wonderful book!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun, even for kids who aren't "insect lovers", September 22, 2002

By 

christinemm - The Thinking Mother (Houston Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: insectlopedia (Paperback)

This is a book of poems about insects. The poems are great; their content is funny and rhythmic. Through the poems we learn about the various insects. Some have very creative text formatting such as the inchworm; the text is shaped like a humped-up inchworm. The illustrations are very creative collages that are unique compared to most other children's books.

I began reading this when my first son was 2 years old and he loved the poems then and he loves them now. Neither of my children are otherwise very interested in reading about insects but this book captures their interest and they laugh hysterically at some of these poems. After reading these they have found some of the more unusual insects such as the walking stick outdoors and called it to my attention. We've owned the book for 3 years, every once in a while my now-5 year old will find it and get excitedly proclaim "we haven't read this in a long time" and begs me to read it again (and again and again).

Some of the insects featured are the inchworm, tick, walking stick, praying mantis, monarch butterfly, daddy long legs spider and army ants.

The poems are so much fun I don't mind reading the entire book two or three times in a row. A fun book to read to young children. This is good reading for just plain fun or to introduce poetry or to enhance learning about insects and nature.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book Filled with Info!, September 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: insectlopedia (Hardcover)

I read this book while sitting in the Dr.'s office this week. It was not only fun to read, but educational as well. At 27 I learned some interesting things about insects! And the illustrations are outstanding, especially for adults who can look further into the artwork.