Cricket in the Thicket
Poems about Bugs
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A nonfiction picture book of poetry about fascinating insects with accompanying facts, notes, and illustrations by the Caldecott-winning Melissa Sweet.
Pray tell us, Mr. Mantis,
Do you pray or simply prey?
Do you scout about for victims
Or fold your hands all day?
In addition to the playful rhyming poems, the supplementary text highlights surprising facts about bugs of all kinds—from familiar ants to exotic dragonflies, cringe-worthy ticks and magnificent fireflies. Melissa Sweet’s collage-inspired mixed-media illustrations beautifully render these creatures and compliment the poems’ whimsical tones. This is an enchanting and informative look at a perennial topic of interest for kids—cool bugs!
A Christy Ottaviano Book
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Murray assembles nearly 30 poems about familiar insects, sometimes educational ("I carry little pods of air/ beneath each shiny wing," she writes about a water bug), sometimes providing an insect's-eye view of life ("I am not loved, not loved at all," sighs a cockroach, "I'm not like any other"). The balance of the poems are third-person descriptive: "Whizzing and whirling/ in fabulous flight./ Whooshing like rockets/ to tell us good night.' " Perhaps to amplify the comedy, a few poems assume that insects bother humans understandable regarding the mosquito, more surprising in the case of the bumblebee: "Rumble, rumble, Bumblebee./ Don't you know you're bugging me?" To even the score, Murray also lobbies for unloved insects: "Let's Hear It for Dung Beetle!" Sweet's (Some Writer!) illustrations with their graceful lines, luminous colors, and sly wit delight throughout, offering delicious moments as a fly contemplates a tableful of Wayne Thibaud like cakes and a walking stick stands among delicate twigs. Additional information about each insect is supplied on each page and in closing notes. Ages 6 10.
