Nasty Bugs
Lice and fleas and mosquitoes, oh my! This book will have you itching and scratching in no time. Sixteen rhyming and free-verse poems, each by a different author, feature as many varieties of disagreeable bugs. While each of the poems has a humorous touch, they also capture the essence of just what it is that makes the bugs so undesirable. For example, we learn that stink bugs have a gland with “a liquid, pungent and powerful enough / to empty an entire room” and that flies carry “germs, typhus, and malaria.” Brightly colored illustrations sparkle and glow in a vibrant palate reminiscent of David Kirk’s Miss Spider books. The large double-page spreads overflow with cartoon bugs that range from menacing and thuggish to cute. The final three pages have a short section of factual information about each of the bugs. Pair with Emma Dodd’s I Love Bugs! (2010) and Joyce Sidman’s Song of the Waterboatman and Other Pond Poems (2005). Grades 1-3. --Randall Enos