I Love Bugs!

Publishers Weekly

A small boy with curly hair and a striped T-shirt sings an extended love song to insects, arachnids, arthropods, and more (“I love springy jumpy leapy bugs and slimy crawly creepy bugs”). The boy and the insects are shown closeup, outlined in expressive black ink, their surroundings rendered as flat, graphic greenery. Googly-eyed grasshoppers cavort through grass the boy parts with his hands to reveal slugs and caterpillars crawling across the soil. When his picnic is invaded by wasps who land on his jam sandwich, the boy says he likes them, too: “I love brightly-colored wing bugs and stripy swipey sting bugs.” Most are common species, and young insect fans will be able to name them. But Dodd (Dog's Colorful Day) is less interested in identification than in celebration. Well-meaning parents may offer this to a child who's ambivalent toward creepy-crawlies, and it would be a good choice; the friendly, slightly anxious looks on the faces of several bugs make it clear that they're nervous, too. But it's young enthusiasts who will like it most. Ages 3–5. (Mar.)

Kirkus Reviews

This young narrator loves bugs of all sorts, including several creepy-crawlies that are not bugs or even insects. The child's passion comes across in the punchy adjectives used to describe the plethora of up-close critters that festoon the pages. "I love springy jumpy leapy bugs / and slimy crawly creepy bugs." And which are the best? Why, the ones that send you screaming, of course. While scientists may decry the grouping of spiders and insects under the "bug" heading, they cannot deny the infectiousness of the child's enthusiasm. The large font and easy vocabulary make this a great choice for beginning readers. Even children who don't love bugs (or insects or spiders) should enjoy identifying the many creepy critters between the covers. Dodd once again emplys large colorful ilustrations that fill the pages and give readers a sense of being enclosed in the book right alongside the narrator. Paired with Bob Barner's classic Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! (1999) or Denise Fleming's taxonomically correct Beetle Bop (2007) as a springboard for an adjective lesson or on its own, this is just plain fun. (Picture book. 3-7)

Children's Literature - Mary Hynes-Berry

The child narrating this book is a lover of bugs from "hard spiky spiny bugs and pretty spotty shiny bugs" all the way to the eight-legged "hang-from-the ceiling-bugs and send-me-squealing bugs!" As these lines indicate, if nothing else, this book is great fun for the tongue with its strong rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration. Dodd's bright illustrations give a clear sense of the appearance of the various bugs but keep a playful feel. Although no bug names or facts are provided, the descriptions use vivid vocabulary; children will quickly be able to identify butterflies, bees, ladybugs, and spiders but might need some help to recognize the rhinoceros beetle. The child who shows such delight in creepy crawlies could be either a girl or boy which nicely sidesteps the gender stereotyping about who likes and who fears bugs. Reviewer: Mary Hynes-Berry

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1—A young child pays tribute to the critters in his backyard that creep, crawl, leap, or fly. "I love brightly-colored-wing bugs/and stripy swipey sting bugs," he declares as his picnic lunch is taken over by butterflies, yellow-jackets, and a dragonfly. The rhyming couplets describe how bugs move, how they sound, and what they look like. Delighting in the natural world, the boy is amazed and awed by the variety of creatures that can be found under logs, in hives, in the grass, and fluttering through the air. Best of all, though, are the eight-legged, hairy, scary ones that send him squealing. Large, brightly colored spreads convey an exploring child and his discoveries. Many of the creatures are larger than life and have expressive faces; most are smiling except for the fierce-looking one that sends the boy running. This lively, sound-filled selection will make your storytimes buzz.—Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI