The Big Bad Bug

‘The Big Bad Bug was in a big bad mood….’

Down at the bottom of the garden, the minibeasts are gathering. The Big Bad Bug can’t resist throwing his weight about, so the others decide to leave him to it. Cue the most enormous berry that anyone has ever seen. It’s big enough to share, but will the Big Bad Bug agree?

Infectiously upbeat and packed with visual and verbal humour, this brightly-coloured picturebook tells the story of a beetle who wants ALL the blackberry, and finds himself in trouble – and lots of juice – when his selfish move backfires. Full of self-importance, lacking empathy or patience and completely unable to share, our antihero isn’t BAD as such, he’s just a bit obnoxious: rather like a toddler, in fact, which may explain one aspect of this book’s appeal.

Kate Read uses painting, printing and drawing to create glowing, richly textured collages which clearly depict each character, and her imaginative illustrations are informed by observation of the natural world: children will be able to identify the minibeasts on these spreads. The Big Bad Bug is particularly expressive, especially for readers familiar with tantrums: look for the picture of him falling backwards as the berry explodes, and enjoy the deliciously deadpan exchange that follows. When the other minibeasts ask why they should help the Big Bad Bug when he’s so mean, the Big Bad Bug answers with a wonderful non-sequitur “But I’m a very rare species…” Many of us have moments when we think we deserve special treatment, and Read enjoys the opportunity to poke gentle fun at such delusions.

Textually, this book is well-paced and easy to share, with plenty of alliteration and repetition (big bad bug, big bad mood…) to support language development, although the text might have benefited occasionally from tighter editing. The vocabulary is punchy and engaging (sneered, bellowed, magnificent, loomed…) and there are some great phrases (‘I’m doomed…. DOOMED!’) which will be speedily adopted by children who enjoy exploring words.

Some adults may miss the presence of an overt moral in this book: the Big Bad Bug doesn’t mend his ways, and is only silenced by the arrival of the Big Bad Slug. But there’s humour in the way that he emerges apparently unchanged, and his behaviour does invite audiences to consider why we act as we do. Like stroppy toddlers, the Big Bad Bug will eventually learn from those who cheerfully demonstrate a kinder and more constructive approach, and working together and sticking to our principles, as the other minibeasts do in this story, may be the most effective way to make an impact.

Bright, bold and enormously appealing, The Big Bad Bug has a classic feel about it, and will quickly become a favourite at home and school.