The Best Book of Bugs by Claire Llewellyn, illustrated by Forsey, di Gaudesi, and Wright- Nonfiction

This was a nonfiction book about bugs. The book discussed the difference between insects and spiders because this is something that people commonly confuse. Insects have six legs, while spiders have eight. Insects have three parts to their bodies- the head, thorax, and abdomen, while spiders only have two parts- the head and thorax at front and the abdomen at the back. Something that spiders have in common with insects it that they both have exoskeletons. After explaining these differences, the bug discussed different types of spiders. These included the broad types- spinning spiders and hunting spiders, as well as more specific spiders such as spitting spiders, jumping spiders, water spiders, and sheet-web spiders. Different types of insects were discussed as well such as bees, ants, beetles, butterflies, moths, and dragonflies. The book discussed the differences in moths and spiders, which is something else that many people confuse. The book had wonderful pictures to further describe all of the different types of insects and spiders. In addition, there were diagrams of body parts, life cycles, etc. This book provided lots of information about insects
The topic of bugs is interesting to many children. Some children love bugs, and therefore would love to read about bugs. Some children are afraid of bugs, so a book about bugs would be good so that they could learn more about which bugs are safe or harmful. I personally used to be very afraid of bugs, but I took the course “Insects and People,” and now I find bugs very amazing! Hopefully reading a nonfiction book about bugs can allow students to appreciate bugs instead of simply being afraid of them. The pictures and diagrams make this book great for students of all reading levels. Students could read this book simply for fun, but it would also be a great book to use for research for a project or report on insects or a specific type of insect!