Nasty Bugs

Gr 1–3—Hopkins has brought together some of the major voices in children's poetry to create this compilation. The bugs may be nasty, but the selections are sublime. The poems, including Marilyn Singer's "Disagreeable Fleas," Kristine O'Connell George's "Bedbug Has a Bite to Eat," and Douglas Florian's "The Giant Water Bug," are accessible for the intended audience; they reveal what little creatures from lice to stink bugs to everyday flies are really up to. The language used is absolutely divine. Any teacher doing a habitat unit or introducing the predator-versus-prey issue will love this book. When read aloud, each poem falls deftly from the tongue and, even while it informs, the kids will laugh out loud. The illustrations are a good match: they are bold and somewhat cartoonlike, yet their attributes are spot-on. Back matter includes more information on each bug, complete with its scientific name. Topnotch and intriguing.—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA