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40 pp.
| Holiday
| July, 2020
|
Trade
ISBN 978-0-8234-4053-5
$17.99
(
2)
K-3
Nature Diary series.
Joining an
Awesome Summer (rev. 5/17) and a
Happy Year (rev. 5/19) as experienced by a praying mantis and a bluebird, respectively, a stinkbug tells its story about the summer it was born: "“June 13: I hatched today." In straightforward scientific thinking delivered in casual prose, the stinkbug tells us how its parents met; where its egg was laid; how it molts (several times) and eventually flies; how it defends itself; and what it eats. "This pepper looked good. I stuck my proboscis in it for a while." The watercolor and acrylic illustrations are humorous yet real-world; painterly and refreshingly un-cartoonish. An explanatory introduction and appended notes fill out the science, noting that the stinkbug is considered an invasive species and a threat to some crops. (Not
this bug, I'm sure.) The format and short sentences will suit independent early-chapter-book readers, but do read it aloud, if only for the luxury of saying "stink" as often as you want to. Appended with a brief glossary and list of recommended websites.
Reviewer:
Roger Sutton
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
July, 2020