Button Books £12.99
ISBN 978-1-78708-132-1
www.buttonbooks.co.uk
Let’s face it we all have a fascination with bugs, even if we are terrified of them. The creepy crawlies have been around for hundreds of millions of years more than us. The factology series are books of just under a hundred pages that in full colour with photos and diagrams cover topics of interest to kids.
This one looks at the over a million different species of insects which make up 90 per cent of the animal species on Earth. The different lifestyles and the most dangerous are looked at as well as those that glow at night and those particularly good at camouflage.
We also see how insect repellant works and what mixtures farmers use in South Asia to keep them off crops (clue: there’s a by product from a cow), but also how they may a future use in medicine.
One of the most interesting sections looks at dragonflies and how they see the world, hover like helicopters and are pretty fast (up to 48km/h), but if tarantulas are your thing then check out the goliath!
Apart from the standard index at the back there’s a handy glossary that goes beyond the basics of thorax, abdomen and pupa and includes such items as elytra, diapause and even urticating.
When you have reached the end there is a big bug quiz, just to ensure that you have absorbed everything such as how many stages are there in the life of a cockroach and what is a brood ball?
We found this to be fun and informative at the same time which gives it a very good chance of sticking in a child’s memory and being a treasured part of their growing library.