The Database Of All The Reviews

Young Naturalist’s Handbook: Insect-Lo-Pedia

Matthew Reinhart

Non-Fiction

Ages 8 and up

Hyperion, 2003, 078680559-5

  There are billions of insects out there and perhaps you think you know a lot about them but I am guessing that you will find, as you read this book, that there are many things that you did not know about these fascinating creatures. For example have you ever wondered why insects are always so small – relatively speaking that is. Why are there no elephant-sized ants walking around? The reason is that an insect’s exoskeleton would not support an insect body that big. So, you don’t need to worry that you will be attacked by a cow-sized fly or a dog-sized mosquito.

  With humor and all kinds of interesting facts and figures, the author looks at how insects have three main body sections, how they develop, how they communicate, how they defend themselves, how they have evolved, and where they live. Believe it or not insects can even be found at the Arctic and Antarctic, and they live in fresh and saltwater as well as on land. Don’t forget too that many insects spend a good deal of their time in the air.

  Next the author looks at the various insect families. Some of the insects mentioned will be familiar, like the dragonflies, while others might be unknown to the reader. For example there are little creatures called web spinners. These little insects build their tunnel homes using the silk that they make.

  The author ends this delightful and highly illuminating book by looking at the ways in which insects and humans have interacted over the centuries. Are they pests or are they useful to us? The answer is that they are both, and we have to do all we can to protect and conserve these remarkable animals.

  With a scintillating text and many wonderful illustrations throughout, Matthew Reinhart makes the world of insects not only accessible to children, but he also makes the subject amusing and entertaining.

 

 

An Online Children’s Book Review Journal

Through The Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews

Online book reviews for the child in your life featuring both new and popular children's book authors

 

Kids book reviews, including book reviews of chapter books, novels, picture books, and non-fiction from famous children’s literature authors. Your review site of books for children.