Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

March 29, 1999
Barner (Dem Bones) creates an enthusiastic book crawling with splashy bugs. From the eager, impatient first line--"Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! I want to see bugs!"--the 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.

August 1, 1999
PreS-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 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 1999
Ages 3^-6. Bold colors and a lively rhyming text combine to make this eye-catching picture book a bug lover's delight. The text's simplicity will keep little ones engaged--" Butterflies that flutter in the sky /" Spotted ladybugs that go creeping by" --and the Bug-O-Meter (a chart that answers questions such as "Can it fly?" and "Where does it live?") is a device that older children will really enjoy. The vivid colors and bold shapes in Barner's collage illustrations will show well in a story-time setting, despite the book's smaller-than-average size, and will really grab kids' attention if the book is put on a display table. ((Reviewed July 1999))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1999, American Library Association.)