Creepy Crawly Things
Children's Books About Insects and Spiders
Kids seem to either really like bugs
or hate them-there's no middle ground. Either way, learning more
about them is benificial to both types of students. Those kids who
love to crawl around in the mud looking at beetles and follow ants back to
anthills will be able to learn more about the creatures that fascinate them,
and the children who run away at the slightest sign of a fly will perhaps
see that not all bugs are scary and many of them help us!
Biographies
Nature and the Environment: Great Lives
Jean Henri Fabre: Expert Observer of Insects
Written by: Doris and Harold Faber
Though not very current, this compilation of 26 biographies
for kids contains valuable information about Environmentalists' lives as
children as adults. The biography of Jean Henri Fabre, expert observer
of insects, talks not only of his childhood obsessions with insects, but
also highlights the importance of perserverance and dedication.
Informational Books
How do Flies Walk Upside Down? Questions
and Answers about Insects
Written by: Melving and Gilda Berger
Illustrated by: Jim Effler
There are more than 75 questions and answers about various
insects for kids to look through. Each double page spread consists
of a single page full color illustration of an insect with questions about
that bug on the opposite page. Great for finding information on a particular
insect (there's an index in back!) or for reading straight through.
Bugs: A Close-up View of the Insect World
Written by: Chris Maynard
Higher level book with a lot of interesting facts about
bugs. The best part about this book? A full reference section
in the back, including insect classification charts and an insect glossary.
Folk Tales
Anansi does the Impossible: An Ashanti
Tale
Written by: Verna Ardema
Illustrated by: Lisa Desimini
An Ashanti tale that explains how the people of West Africa
reclaimed their flok tales from the Sky God. Anansi the Spider decides
that it is wrong for the stories of his people to belong to the Sky God,
so he offers to buy them from the god. The Sky God asks him to to 3
impossible tasks, but with the help of his wife Aso, Anansi manages to do
them and wins the tales back for his people.
Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears
Written by: Verna Ardema
Illustrated by: Leo and Diane Dillon
The mosquito tells a tall tale to Iguana, who doesn't
want to hear it, so he sticks twigs in his ears. This sets off a chain
of events which causes an owlet to be crushed. Mother Owl is so upset
that she won't hoot to wake the sun, so King Lion questions everyone involved
until he finds out mosquito is to blame. Mosquito overhears this and
hides, yet she has a guilty conscience and buzzes in people's ears, "Zee,
is everyone still mad at me?"
Poetry and Rhyming Books
Insectlopedia
Written and Illustrated by: Douglas Florian
A collection of 21 beautifully illustrated spider and
insect poems. Each poem is about a different insect and gives information
about what they look like, what they eat, etc.
The Flea's Sneeze
Written by: Lynn Downey
Illustrated by: Karla Firehammer
A funny rhyme about all of the animals who live in a barn.
They are all so busy sleeping that no on notices the little flea sneeze and
ask "Does eddybody hab a tissue for be?"
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a
Fly
Written and Illustrated by: Simms Taback
A cumulative story of an old lady who eats way too much!!
This version has comment in the illustrations that rhyme with the text, which
provides humor to older audiences.
The Bugliest Bug
Written by: Carol Diggory Shields
Illustrated by: Scott Nash
There is a contest to see who the "bugliest" bug is, and
all the bugs are entering. Damselfly Dilly doesn't think she can win,
but she goes to enjoy the festivities anyways. Dilly, however, is the
only one who notices that the judges are really spiders, and warns everyone
before they are eaten. Dilly is then declared the bugliest bug!
Character Counts!
Crickwing
Written and Illustrated by: Janelle Cannon
Appreciating
Differences
Crickwing never set out to be a bully. All he wants is
to create his art in peace. But it's not easy being different-a cockroach
with a cricked wing and a flair for sculpture is a ready target for the bigger
creatures in the forest. Crickwing just wants to even the score, and leafcutter
ants are so easy to pick on.... Big mistake. Nobody angers the leafcutter
queen and gets away with it.In this epic adventure beneath the foliage, Crickwing
and the leafcutter ants go head-to-head. Then a swarm of ferocious army ants
threatens, and suddenly everyone is in danger. Crickwing has to do something,
but what? He's an artist, not a fighter. What the leafcutters need is a hero.
Or, maybe, a cockroach with a really clever idea...
Ladybug's Birthday
Written by: Steve Metzger
Illustrated by: James Williamson
Working Together
Ladybug plans a party with only two friends in her small house,
but as more and more insects show up, she is sure her birthday is ruined.
However, her guests and she work together to find solutions to all of the
problems, and everyone has a great time!
Hey, Little Ant
Written by: Phillip and Hannah Hoose
Illustrated by: Debbie Tilly
Everyone is Special
A cute story about a conversation between a boy and an
ant. The boy wants to squish the ant, and why shouldn't he? He
is bigger and smarter, who would care about an ant? The ant reminds
him that he has a family that would miss him, and that he is very important
to them. In the end, the authors ask the reader, "What do you think
the boy should do?"
Board Books
After Chester, a cricket, arrives in the Times Square subway station via
a picnic basket from his native Connecticut, he takes up residence in the
Bellini's newsstand. There, the tiny creature is lucky enough to find three
good friends: a little boy named Mario whose parents run the unsuccessful
newsstand, a fast-talking Broadway mouse named Tucker and his pal, Harry
the Cat. The comic, sometimes tragic side of life in the city is brought
into relief as the friends struggle to bring success to the almost bankrupt
newsstand.
Resources
Insects and Spiders
Written by: Andra Christenson, Karen Adler
A thematic unit on
insects and spiders for kindergarten and first grade. Contains a bibliography
of insect books, reproducable pages, ideas for songs, art, games, etc.
A good start to a unit, but definitly not "complete" as the cover claims.
Enter the Hive
available at: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/alienempire/multimedia/hive.html
Yucky Roach World
available at: http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/noflash/roaches/index.html
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Who's Bugging You?
Charlotte's Web
The Cricket In Times Square