  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 03/15/2017 This smart collection of more than 30 poems about bugs offers surprising facts about common insects. A welcome balance of lilting poetry and informational text boxes set to Sweet’s eye-catching collage illustrations, Murray’s narrative is designed to reach a broad range of young readers. While weaving factual tidbits into her verses, Murray incorporates a little bit of everything, including couplets, visual poetry, tongue twisters, alliteration, puns, and riddles, such as, “Just imagine, / if you could, / a creepy crawler / crunching wood,” and “Pray tell us, Mr. Mantis, / do you pray or simply prey?” Short informational text boxes bolster the playful verse with facts about each poem’s subject; for example, “There are more ants in the world than any other insect,” and “Surprise! That ladybug may actually be male—it’s hard to tell.” Sweet’s signature illustrations, full of cartoonish renditions of the bugs and enhanced with humorous details, pops of bright watercolor washes, and cut-paper elements, further enliven Murray’s captivating rhymes. An approachable poetry collection on a genial topic, chock-full of visual delights. - Copyright 2017 Booklist. School Library Journal - 04/01/2017 Gr 3–5—Bouncy little poems skitter across the illustrated pages as Murray celebrates bugs, from walking sticks to dung beetles. Her fruit flies "stage an invasion and vanish like snow," her mosquitoes are "ready and eager," and her grasshoppers are "built with precision and speed." Sweet's graceful, cartoony watercolors capture the essence of the rhymes. Each poem is accompanied by a discreet fact box, while three additional pages of data lurk in the back of the book. This title is not as distinguished as, say, Paul Fleischman's Newbery winner Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices or Douglas Florian's handsome Insectlopedia: Poems and Paintings, but it stands delicately on multiple feet, chirpy as a cricket. VERDICT Sprightly, simple, and with a nice soupçon of information; a fine choice for large poetry collections.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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