Picture book excellence, especially with a familiar topic, is no small feat. A great picture book for young readers combines familiarity with something new.
Some Bugs by Angela DiTerlizzi (Say What?) lives up to that challenge, celebrating some of the world's most successful living creatures in rhythmic and upbeat text that bursts off the page, accompanied by Brendan Wenzel's exuberant illustrations. In her quick-paced, short text, DiTerlizzi uses the familiar backyard setting to help budding entomologists spy on the comings and goings of the insect world. Wenzel captures imaginations with images of not only wide-eyed bugs, but also the other creatures with which they share their world (including cats and raccoons). The focus on the bugs in action (among the delectable verbs: stinging, biting, stinking, fighting, hopping, gliding, swimming, hiding, building, making, hunting, taking) supports the notion that bugs may be small, but they are also hugely fascinating.
This book will delight and inspire the youngest insect enthusiasts who will bug their adults to read it over and over and over again. The last full-page spread provides readers of all ages with a visual index and the names of 50 insects that invade and share our world. --Susanna Richards, associate professor, Eastern Connecticut State University