Summer Reading Day 10! – Beetle books!

Today’s theme is beetles!  I thought I’d share two recently published books featuring these little critters – one fiction and one nonfiction.

     Stephen and the Beetle by Jorge Luján is a simple story, translated from Spanish, about a little boy who finds a beetle in his garden.  He is just getting ready to squish the beetle with his shoe when he begins to WONDER: (hurray for books about wondering!) Where is the beetle going?  What is it doing?  Stephen then proceeds to carefully observe the beetle’s movements in the garden.  This book would stimulate many good discussions in a classroom, raising some important questions and inviting many connections.   The text is very simple, but I like the way the author uses some “triple scoop” words to describe the beetle.  This book would pair up nicely with Hey, Little Ant by Philip and Hannah House.

  Did you know that one out of every four living creatures on earth is a beetle?  Well now you do, thanks to The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins – author and illustrator of some of the BEST nonfiction books for children.  (There are, in fact, over 350,000 species of beetles in the world, according to Jenkins)   In this fascinating look into the world of beetles, we are introduced to many of the species through interesting facts and extraordinary illustrations.  Steve Jenkins’s unique style of torn paper collage is remarkable, especially when you see how many fine details he includes.  The pages are dazzling – bright and colorful and amazing!  The strange and unusual facts will be sure to “wow the crowd” during a class read-aloud.

After learning about the world of beetles, we might think twice about squishing one!

Enjoy your day!