The Beetle Book

If you don't know much about beetles, you will after reading this book, regardless of your age. The most remarkable facts, with wonderful illustrations, torn- and cut-paper collages created by the author (colorful, clear, even beautiful; the reader views an enlarged version of the beetles, as well as life-size).Steve Jenkins does not talk down to children, nor does he speak up to adults. He writes in a forthright, intelligent and simple manner that should appeal to all ages, I would say beginning from the age of four (I cannot put an age cap on this book since it can be equally enjoyed by all). It's an interesting size - not too large and not too small (my measurements are circa 10-1/4" by 10-1/4").I got curious about beetles when I saw one in my kitchen. I've always taken them for granted as disposable (I don't like to kill lone insects so I usually find a way to transport them outdoors). But this time I said "Wait! What is the story of this beetle? What it is really like? What is the history of the species?" And that's what led me to read this book. After reading it, I have a tremendous respect for a beetle when I see one. Truly amazing facts are presented. For instance, there are more than 350,000 kinds of beetles that have been named. Many more are discovered each year.Some topics covered are the construction of the beetle, their senses, their habits, even how they grow up. What do they eat? It depends on the type of beetle. Some are plant eaters, some carry on their backs and eat dung, cleaning up the world's grasslands to provide food for their families. There are beetles that live off fungi; some are hunters and scavengers.These facts don't even begin to cover the abundance of astounding information provided. A lot of care went into the execution of this book. The artwork is beautiful. I do think that the cover design itself could be improved upon. I would like to see more detail on the front of the book, and less detail on the back of it so that the lovely illustrations could have been more imaginatively placed, not just horizontally and vertically.But that is just nitpicking what is to me the most impressive book for children about natural life since reading the works of Melvin Berger, whom I consider to be the finest author in this genre to date. I believe this book should be in every child's library. It is that important a contribution.

I knew a guy in Los Angeles who created original artwork using photographs of beetles. They were really gorgeous, so it's no surprise to me that the beetle art in Jenkins' latest nature book is, too. The cover alone is worth the price of admission!I will admit I was a little put off when I first opened the book and saw how small the font size is, but I quickly got used to it and realized that its size means the text doesn't compete with the illustrations. Beetle names are in boldface in the text, which is helpful. Another nice touch is that the author-illustrator gives us many of the beetles in black silhouette to show their actual sizes.Jenkins lets the stark white backgrounds set off the beetles' strong colors and shapes, taking full advantage of negative space and the beetles' symmetry to create graphic art-influenced illustrations. Many of the beetles are static, portrait-style, but some are shown in action, most notably two rhinoceros beetles dueling to win a mate. The illustrations are all the more breathtaking when you realize that they were done entirely using "torn- and cut-paper collage." Jenkins has joined the rarified ranks of Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert in his use of the technique.The science content may remind you of an Eyewitness book. The Beetle Book is filled with fun facts. For example, have you ever heard of the forest fire beetle? "[It] has special heat-sensing spots on its body. It can detect a fire from more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) away. These beetles fly to the site of the forest fire and lay their eggs in charred wood--wood that is now free of predators." I thought he was going to say the beetles sensed the fire and flew away from it, but instead the beetles fly to the fire!Stinky beetles, shiny beetles, poisonous beetles (if you eat them!) and camouflaged beetles--Jenkins introduces readers to a colorful cast of characters. One of my favorites is an Australian beetle called Wallace's longicorn, which has a body that's not quite 4 inches long and antennae that can reach 15 inches or so in length.I'll just end with one final fact, Jenkins' opening sentence: "Line up every kind of plant and animal on Earth... and one of every four will be a beetle." So yes, we're outnumbered. But if you've got a budding scientist on your hands, get him or her The Beetle Book.

We borrowed this book from the library soany time, and my son was sad to return it each time, so we had to buy it. Great illustrations and fun tidbits about so many different kinds of beetles!

Really excellent illustrations. My only complaints were that the text is a bit small, and the book says that a Madagascar hissing cockroach is a beetle. It's not...it's a cockroach.

This book is absolutely wonderful. It strikes just the right balance between "entertainment" and education. It is packed full of interesting facts, colorful drawings, and "life-size" representations of each beetle species but never gets dry or dull or long-winded. My 7 y.o. daughter, who often has attention-span issues, can sit and look at this for extended periods with fascination. We read a few pages each night for bedtime story sometimes. She will now occasionally come running into the house breathlessly announcing she has identified in our backyard one of the species we recently read about in the book (we live in Minnesota, so generally this is not likely, but her enthusiasm is unquenchable). Highly recommended as a book that both kids and adults will enjoy looking through together over and over.

It's beautiful, chocked full of facts, and my favorite part is the little silhouettes that show the real size of the beetles.

Pictures are very stunning. But text are the best of this book. We (me and my 6 y twin love every details about beetle in this book, very interesting. Ex: Ironclad beetle looks like a bird's dropping to fool the predator. You must read it. I think 3 years old up can read this book for fun,too.

Très beau livre. Je reccomande

This book contains stunning illustrations of the most incredible beetles, some shown life size. It's packed with interesting facts about the different types of beetle and their abilities and covers beetles from all around the world. It's a brilliant introduction for kids (my 4 year old loves looking through it with me) but also wonderful for grown-ups. Especially grown-ups who have an inordinate fondness for beetles that haven't been mounted and displayed. ;-)

My son just loved this book. He is an "early reader" of English and very interested in animals. He loved the beautiful drawings and interesting facts, and we both enjoyed the humour of the book!

Gorgeous illustrations of a range of beetles. Used as a non fiction discussion text with a class of five year olds (a bit of paraphrasing on the text) and had more than one stay after to look at the pictures up close and talk about what they had seen. Can't improve on that!

Stunning illustrations and a vivid layout make this a brilliant introduction to the mind-boggling world of beetles. Less comprehensive than I had imagined it would be, but still plenty of information to intrigue and enthuse the reader,