Fiction - Animals - Insects, Poetry - Rhymes, Nursery Rhymes & Fingerplays, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous

Pest Fest

Name: Pest Fest
Author: Julia Durango
ISBN: 9781442430952

by Julia Durango

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Overview

Brimming with energy and humor, this witty picture book redeems bugs in a whole new light. The homely housefly is sure he doesn't stand a chance to win the title of greatest pest of all. After all, there's pretty stiff competition between the lovely ladybug, the musical cricket and the long-legged spider. But just when the house fly's sure he'll be defeated by the host of boisterous bugs, things take a turn for his favor. And HE ends up being the prince of persecution after all—as the most pesterly chump in the bunch.

Full of rhythm and drama, this book is a perfect read-aloud!

About the Author, Julia Durango

Julia Durango resides in Ottawa, Illinois, where she wrote a weekly book review column for children. She is the mother of two sons and is the author of Dream Hop, illustrated by Jared Lee, as well as Pest Fest, illustrated by Kurt Cyrus. Her work also includes Go-Go Gorillas, a sequel to Cha-Cha Chimps, both illustrated by Eleanor Taylor and Dream Away, illustrated by Robert Goldstrom. Her first novel The Walls of Cartagena was a Junior Library Guild Selection. Her most recent novel is entitled Sea of the Dead. She is a contributor the Three Silly Chicks blog and lives in Ottawa, Illinois.

Kurt Cyrus has illustrated numerous picture books, including Buddy: The Story of Buddy Holly by Anne Bustard; Mammoths on the Move by Lisa Wheeler; and his own Turtle Rex and Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water. He lives in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

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Editorials

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2
Competition is stiff at the annual "Pest Fest" talent show. Vying for the coveted title of "Best Pest of the Year," Ladybug sings a song that can "make the Manbugs swoon," and Firefly boasts of being a "lighthouse in the sky." Housefly feels woefully inadequate. Compared to Butterfly or Honeybee, his looks "rate a zero" and he lacks the musical touch of such "expert noise creator[s]" as Cricket and Cicada. He reluctantly enters the contest, confessing, "The only thing I do all day/is hang around...pester dogs...heckle humans." His talents are praised and this "Prince of Persecution" is crowned the winner. The rhyming verses capture amusing verbal jousting among the insects. Cyrus's watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations offer stunning close-ups of the contestants, showing lush views of the streamside setting from their down-to-earth perspective. The final pages contain a creepy, crawly surprise for a snoozing fisherman who unwittingly becomes a part of the festivities. Young entomologists will go buggy for this book.
—Linda LudkeCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In beauty, talent and skills, the housefly can't compete against other bugs. But as a pest, he's a winner. Jaunty verses introduce an assortment of insects portrayed many times enlarged against a background of magnified parts of a fisherman revealed on the final endpapers. The brightly colored double-page paintings provide close-ups of the carpet beetle whi is Pest Fest master of ceremonies, as well as the undersides of contenders butterfly, firefly, cricket, cicada and spider. Contestants also include a dancing ladybug, a honeybee, a grasshopper, a water strider and other unnamed insects shown from a variety of unusual perspectives. Watching them strut their stuff, the forlorn housefly is shown from many different angles and magnifications, and finally, triumphantly victorious. Readers will enjoy returning to the pictures to identify the human body parts, clothing and fishing gear in the background. The familiar rhyme scheme (think "The Walrus and the Carpenter") is handled well, and the book begs to be read aloud. Clever and appealing. (Picture book/nonfiction. 3-7)