Bugs for Lunch - Hardcover

Margery Facklam never gave much thought to eating bugs until she was served mealworm fritters and cricket tarts at a party at the Buffalo Museum of Science. After receiving a birthday gift of mealworm brittle, she was hooked and was inspired to write BUGS FOR LUNCH. Margery has authored more than thirty books, including THE BIG BUG BOOK (Little, Brown), and I EAT DINNER (Boyds Mills Press).

PreSchool-Grade 2-Facklam's cheerful, rhyming text introduces the read-to-me set (and beginning readers as well) to a variety of critters whose collation of choice is insects. A bat, a toad, a spider, a Venus flytrap, and even humans are shown catching an assortment of bugs on every eye-catching double-page spread. The excellent pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are large, colorful, and realistic, showing not only the designated diner and intended entr?e, but also a host of other insects, from ladybugs to damselflies, creeping and crawling and flittering about inside and outside of the margins. The closing three pages provide brief, informative paragraphs on each "bug-catcher," emphasizing its hunting methods. Unfortunately, the plethora of prey is largely left unidentified, which will probably lead to frustrating questions from young admirers of this handsome volume. Still, this is an attractive, high-interest book with an intriguing title and dramatic illustrations.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.