Picture

Old Black Fly Jim Aylesworth Rhyming text and illustrations follow a mischievous old black fly through the alphabet as he has a very busy bad day landing where he should not be.

The Very Clumsy Click Beetle Eric Carle A clumsy young click beetle learns to land on its feet with encouragement from various animals and a wise old beetle. An electronic chip with a built-in battery creates clicking sounds to accompany the story.

A Pocketful of Cricket Rebecca Caudill A boy takes his pet cricket to school where it first disturbs the class with its chirping, but then becomes the show-and-tell attraction.

Manuelo, the Playing Mantis Don Freeman A praying mantis longing to make music gets help from a spider named Debby Webster.

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock Eric A. Kimmel Anansi the Spider uses a strange moss-covered rock in the forest to trick all the other animals, until Little Bush Deer decides he needs to learn a lesson.

Inch by Inch Leo Lionni To keep from being eaten, an inchworm measures a robin’s tail, a flamingo’s neck, a toucan’s beak, a heron’s legs, and a nightingale’s song. Caldecott Honor Book, 1961.

Readers

Super Fly Guy Tedd Arnold When Buzz brings his pet fly to school, mayhem ensues in the lunchroom based on the fly’s taste for all things disgusting. In the end, Super Fly Guy is a hero as he rescues students from the nasty replacement lunch lady.

I Like Bugs (Step into Reading) Margaret Wise Brown In brief rhyming text, lists all the types of insects the narrator likes.

Breakout at the Bug Lab Ruth Horowitz When a giant cockroach named Max escapes from their mother’s bug laboratory, Leo and his brother receive help from a mysterious stranger who advises them to think like a bug in order to recapture the runaway roach.

Juvenile Fiction

Magic by the Book Nina Bernstein After returning from a trip to the library, 11-year-old Anne and her younger brother and sister discover a magic book that sends them on adventures in which they meet Robin Hood, giant bugs, and a dark, sinister man with a wolfish face.

James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl James befriends an assortment of hilarious characters, including Grasshopper, Earthworm, Miss Spider, and Centipede—each with his or her own song to sing.

Mary Pope Juvenile NF Osborne Spider Kane and the Mystery at Jumbo Nightcrawlers. Lieutenant Leon Leafwing and Detective Spider Kane investigate the mysterious disappearance of Leon’s mother and members of the Order of the Moth.

The Mysteries of Spider Kane Mary Pope Osborne Detective Spider Kane investigates mysteries for neighborhood insects in two stories—“Spider Kane and the Mystery at Jumbo Nightcrawler’s” and “Spider Kane and the Mystery Under the May-apple”—in one paperback.

How to Eat Fried Worms Thomas Rockwell A small boy is challenged by a friend to eat 15 worms in 15 days for 50 dollars.

Charlotte’s Web E. B. White First published in 1952, this classic story concerns Wilbur, the pig, who is desolate when he discovers that he is destined to be the farmer’s Christmas dinner until his spider friend, Charlotte, decides to help him. Newbery Honor Book, 1953.

Juvenile non-fiction

When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and TetrapodsStalked the Earth: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life before Dinosaurs Hannah Bonner A delightful look at prehistoric animals, including some very impressive insects and bugs.

Outside and Inside Killer Bees Sandra Markle This photo essay looks at an invasive species, the Africanized “killer” bee and its less destructive cousin, the European honeybee. Outstanding Science Trade Book, 2005.

Ant Cities (Let’s Read and Find Out about Science 2) Arthur Dorros Explains how ants live and work together to build and maintain their cities.

Pet Bugs: A Kid’s Guide to Catching & Keeping Touchable Insects Sally Kneidel Kneidel shows you how to catch and keep crickets, mantises, click beetles, and many more kinds of insects.

The Best Book of Bugs Claire Llewellyn Describes the habits and life cycles of various insects and provides clues for identifying them in their natural habitats.

The Tarantula Scientist (Scientists in the Field) Sy Montgomery Describes the research that Samuel Marshall and his students are doing on tarantulas, including the largest spider on earth, the Goliath bird-eating tarantula. Outstanding Science Trade Book, 2005. A 2005 Sibert Honor Book.