the kids are picking away-- bug study style

Kids' Picks time over at 5M4B, everyone! What are your kids reading during these hot summer days?

We're basically live under a pile of library books in our small living room, but this month, rather than focus on each child individually, I thought I'd highlight some of our current faves in relation to our ongoing bug study. So really, this applies more to Red (3) and Pudge (20 months), although JAM (almost 9) has taken part here and there during our project.

Fiction-wise, two of our favorite buggy books are ones that we own, although we have found some great ones during our library searches as well. You can't talk about bugs with young children and NOT include Eric Carle's masterpieces. My favorite, and thus one that I emphasize to the kids as a fantastic read, is The Very Clumsy Click Beetle. Perhaps it's because I had a very close encounter with a click beetle who flipped up onto my shirt out of nowhere one day while I was on the playground at my old school, which just happened to make me the coolest teacher at that moment since I was wearing a fascinating creature! Or maybe because it showcases Eric Carle's illustrative style beautifully and is an endearing story of endurance and fortitude. And don't forget, it loudly clicks as you turn to the last page-- definitely the highlight for the kids!

And then there's the dark cautionary tale by Tony DiTerlizzi (based on the poem by Mary Howitt), The Spider and the Fly. This one's not necessarily for those who are strict happy-ending-lovers, but it is breathtaking in its illustrations and general realism about the behaviors of spiders! I wondered if Red would be a fan of this one, given its darkness and the whole thing about the beautiful fly becoming spider-dinner in the end, but she does request this book and there's something about it that appeals to her.

Onto nonfiction-- no doubt about it which of the MANY library books that we've had over the last two months is Red's absolute favorite-- Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons. Of all the bugs we've been exposed to during this study, the monarch is wings above the rest in her eyes. Mind you that we have only seen one in real-life once or maybe twice, but this is just the ultimate one to Red. As all of Gail Gibbons amazing information books are, this one is chock full of info presented in preschool appropriate manners with illustrations that are realistic and informative themselves. Definitely a classic!

And finally, the last one is a recent addition to our home library, but one that I predict will be the recipient of much attention long past the length of our bug study, Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. This one JAM did enjoy looking through for a long time as we drove home from the museum where I bought it, and he was amazed to see the huge variety of insects highlighted in this guide. Red has already looked through it on her own, and I have to admit to being sucked into it as well (ha ha... okay, terrible pun). With way more info than we'll ever need on the critters we're finding around us, this has quickly become our ultimate resource for the question we find ourselves asking a lot lately- what was that bug?

So, that's what we're reading, bug-book-wise around these parts. How about you? Link on up with us over at 5 Minutes for Books!

With bugs, books and blather,