Bug Off! A Swarm of Insect Words

Zany visual definitions and amusing wordplay teach little ones a cluster of new words that contain the names of insects, from frANTic to TICKlish to staGNATe, in the ingenious sequel to the best-seller, ANTics!

Kindergarten-Grade 3AIn this buggy sequel of sorts to ANTics! (Putnam, 1992), the alphabet no longer serves as the book's unifying thread. The pages here are much more loosely tied together, but it matters little. Each of the three segments features a different set of insects such as "The Unwelcome Houseguests...starring Roaches and Ants." Hepworth's clever illustrations show how these creatures have crawled into everyday words. The connection between the word and the bug within is succinctly captured in the pictures. The accompanying illustration conveys the meaning. For example, "Frantic" shows a mass, or should it be colony, of harried ants on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. From approach to signature, from lice to mites, Hepworth swarms her readers with buggy delights. Dynamite!AChristy Norris Blanchette, Valley Cottage Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This witty compendium, subtitled "A Swarm of Insect Words," suggests that moths, mites and bees nest in unlikely places. Readers of Hepworth's Antics! already know the buzz: the author highlights key syllables in words like "mammoth" and "license," then provides an illustration of each term. With one word and one image per page, Hepworth conveys lots of detail in her grainy colored-pencil drawings. For instance, a frowning and antennaed "Beethoven" holds a quill pen and sheet music in his fuzzy digits. To define "beefy," a black-and-yellow fellow flexes his pecs. "Signatures" depicts tiny bewigged John Hancocks with the Declaration of Independence, and "tick-tack-toe" is a variation on the game. The "roach" pages pose the biggest challenge, and Hepworth strains to include them: "encroach" depicts plump tourist-cockroaches crowding a skinny bug in an elevator, while "reproach" presents a pest locked in the stocks. Yet even these tenuous attempts offer a useful vocabulary lesson. Hepworth's six-legged "descendants" and "behemoths" take the sting out of spelling bees, and her imaginative approach may well press readers to invent their own dynamite terminology. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Hepworth (Antics!, 1992) once again presents pests with personality. Bees, moths, gnats, mites, ticks, lice, roaches, and ants star in words thatto most readers' surprisefeature insects. RomANTic depicts two amorous ants sharing a soda; StaGNATe offers a gnat relaxing in a thick, murky swamp; BEEthoven displays a famous insect composer. Hepworth's humorous, expressive insect images encourage wordplay and observation, but without the thematic piquancy of the previous book. This one is organized into three sections, dividing the creatures into ``A Real Fly-by-Night Operation'' (those that fly), ``Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite'' (those that bite), and ``The Unwelcome House Guests'' (those that inhabit homes)angles that will be easiest to grasp among those with prior knowledge of bugs and their ilk. (Picture book. 5-9) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.