Bugs!

ANNOTATION

Celebrates the disgusting and horrible things you can do with a bunch of bugs.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Greenberg (Slugs) once again indulges a child's delight in yuckiness, this time with bugs (e.g., instead of putting slugs in a blender, this time Greenberg advises grinding stink bugs in a pepper mill). For dinner he suggests that "praying mantis pizza/ Is a culinary must," or, for the not so faint of heart, "try millipedes for dental floss,/ Feel them scrape away the moss." Like Slugs, Bugs ends with the cunning victims turning the tables, and pinning the erstwhile hero to the wall in a permanent Human Being Collection. While Greenberg's distinctive, outr humor and plot in both books are similar, Munsinger's (The Tale of Custard the Dragon) clever illustrations take a different tack, focusing the action on a single perplexed, cheerful boy and his adoring terrier. In one climactic spread, "Bugs with pincers, claws, and hair,/ Bugs much fiercer than a bear", an army of bugs in sci-fi proportion pursue the outsized grizzly who's after the boy (and the tail of his terrier) in a diagonal chase across the pages. Throughout, the boy possesses an innocence that belies the text. But by its conclusion, young bugwatchers will be wise to the grossly fun puns (though they may think twice before barbecuing spit bugs). Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

BUGS! David T. Greenberg, illus. by Lynn Munsinger. "Greenberg once again indulges a child's delight in yuckiness with bugs, accompanied by Munsinger's clever illustrations," said PW. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Children's Literature - Emily Leising

This book about insects is written in poetic form with cleverly chosen vocabulary. The book explores the different things that can be done to bugs. Bugs can be cooked, trained, ground up, and eaten. Then the author changes perspective and suggests what bugs might do to us. Although bugs can be very fascinating creatures, this book will probably make readers scrunch up their noses and stick out their tongues. In fact, it probably wouldn't be a good idea for anyone who does not enjoy, well, vomiting, to read this book. The artwork is colorful, creative, and has just as much description as the writing, which makes the ideas even more unappealing! While using some cartoon-like qualities for the humans, the artist drew very accurate details on the insects. This is a humorous book, but some young children might find it disturbing. The book would appeal most to boys who enjoy grossing out their parents. 2002 (orig. 1997), Little Brown and Company, Ages 4 to 8.

School Library Journal