Paleo Bugs: Survival of the Creepiestby Timothy J. Bradley
Chronicle Books
44 pages
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A program of the Children's Services department of the Allen County (Indiana) Public Library. Please join our discussion of this year's best informational books for children.
Welcome to the ACPL Mock Sibert blog!
We're excited about all the new informational books for kids that will be published in 2011 and we look foward to highlighting some of the best here. We hope you'll join the discussion by leaving comments on the titles we post. If you'd like to suggest a title for our list, simply leave a comment or send us an email.
In January of 2012, we'll get together in person to talk about our favorites and vote for our Mock Sibert Award winners. Watch for details to be published later this year.
6 comments:
What I like most about this book are the black drawings that show the size of each prehistoric bug compared to that of modern-day kids.
I read the words in this book. I felt disconnected from the text. I just didn't care. A person with special interest in the topic might take away something, but for the general reader, not so much. I was expecting it to be a lot creepier. Although that one really long ancient insect caught my attention for a bit. Not enough for me to recall any details other than it was big.
I agree with Kris that the shadow people in the sidebar was a nice touch. I was a bit tired of the use of the word "explorer" by the end of the book though.
This is a book for kids who are tired of the same, old dinosaur books that recycle information and art. Some of the bugs in the book are really weird, but some resemble their modern descendants a lot. The illustrations are bright and action-packed. Solid science information, plus a time line, glossary, further reading, and pronunciations.
Definitely a choice for readers looking for more information about the other kinds of creatures that lived millions of years ago.
I agree with Kris. The link to modern-day was a nice touch.
I agree with Teresa - I didn't care that much.
The illustrations were too fantastic to give any real indication of what the creatures looked like. I appreciated the use of color, but the action made for a difficult interpretation.
Technically "bugs" are a specific type of insect. The use of the word in this book title makes little sense.
Referring to Heather's comments:
•"Bug" is a generic term used by kids to describe any kind of creepy-crawly they come across, so in this context--a book written for children--I think it's use is acceptable. If this was a peer-reviewed publication that had been written for paleontologists, "arthropod" would be more correct. You have to keep the usage in mind, here.
•The dynamic illustrations are naturally going to be much more appealing to kids, especially those interested in prehistoric stuff--than to adults who have no interest in the subject. I found that the inclusion of the silhouettes gave a good idea of what the whole creature looked like, and the color illustrations were actually very clear and easy to understand.
Wow--so this vote is not really about whether or not a book has any educational or literary merit, but only if a reviewer happens to be interested, or even tolerant, of a book's subject matter. Don't you think that it is important in a review to consider the readership a particular book is for, and not so much about what you as a reviewer may or may not find interesting? I think the topic of prehistoric bugs might appeal to an 8-12 year-old child more than it would to the child's parents or librarian. What's the point of these reviews if the child's perspective isn't being considered?
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