By now you might be feeling a little stir-crazy from practicing social distancing for the past couple of weeks. Stir-crazy and… a little wriggly? Wriggly? Like a bug? Nature is full of awesome bugs and with spring in the air, now is a great time to check out cool books about our creepy, crawly, sometimes-a-bit-gross “friends” – bugs!
As adults we may not always the biggest fan of bugs, but they are really cool and fun for kids to learn about. Read on to learn about some books that you won’t have to “bug” your kids to read (we love a good pun).
Did you know that bugs used to be bigger? Like, waaaaaaay bigger? Can you imagine bugs as big as a Toronto Raptor player? What about the size of your cat or dog? Helaine Becker has all of the creepy details in her book Megabugs (Kids Can Press). Megabugs is a great read for your preteen kids who are in peak “dinosaur” mode right now. Not only are the bugs morbidly fascinating, but all of the information in Megabugs has been checked out by real paleontologists. We know that the attendees at our Nature Tales event last fall were grossed out (in the best possible way) but really interested in Helaine’s stories of colossal critters.
But maybe you have younger kids, or want a – dare we say – cuter approach to bugs? Then you might be interested to hear about The Gumboot Kids mystery books. They’re adapted from the CBC show Scout & The Gumboot Kids. There are a ton of Gumboot Kids books, but we like The Case of the Vanishing Caterpillar (Firefly Books). It’s a great story that involves looking for clues and doing research in the library (check out the video below).
Speaking of libraries… this is another reminder that these books can probably be found online in your local library or bookstores. Call them up and ask if they deliver books – they need your support more than ever!
After reading all about bugs, it’s a great time to get out of the house and go on a nature walk or explore your backyard. It’s springtime, so all sorts of critters should be out and about. Keep track of what you see and find, and then look up information on them after you get home.
We can’t wait to hear to hear about all the creepy and crawly bugs you find.