Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!

When I picked up this hardback to review, I was immediately drawn in by the attractive and brightly coloured covers. It is the third title in the successful Nature Investigator series. Although there are quite a few books on this topic around, here is a fresh way of presenting the information and I learned so much! The catchy section headers are very original and help to entice the reader: Brilliant Beetles, Winged Wonders, Super Senses, Wriggly and Slimy etc.

I learned that ‘There are at least one million different kinds of insect!’ (p.5) and that an ants’ ‘Nest has ‘rooms’ for food, rubbish, eggs, larvae, pupae and the queen ant’ (p.17). The text is brimful with interesting facts which encourage the reader to turn over the page and discover more. Thus, I read it quite quickly, thoroughly and all in one sitting. The illustrations are beautifully executed by Vicky Barker. In particular, I loved the camouflaged minibeasts (pp.12-13) and the pictures of butterflies and moths (pp.14-15). The background page colours chosen for each section work well with the vibrant yellow showing off the honeybees in the section entitled ‘Buzzing Around’ (pp.20-21).

This is the perfect book for a curious child who is keen to learn more about the bugs all around us. It would work well being shared in the classroom or at home with an encouraging adult. I do hope there are more books in this series as the publisher (b small publishing) has found a winning formula. My next job is to hunt out the first two books in this series as I am sure I will be in for a treat. Well done to all the creative team involved here. This is such a good example of an excellent, well-produced non-fiction/information book which can draw youngsters into a lifetime of reading and books.