This super new title in the Let’s-Read-And-Find-Out Science series encourages young children to look more closely at insects and think like scientists. Rockwell, who has written many fine nonfiction titles for preschool and kindergartners, is right on target with this “Stage 1” science title that asks children to think about what makes an insect and what makes a bug. She suggests, “Count its legs. Count how many parts make up its body.” She explains all insects have exoskeletons, but not all creatures with exoskeletons are insects. She then defines insects: “anything with six legs and three body parts is an insect,” and invites children to look carefully at a ladybug and a spider and decide if either or both is an insect or a bug or neither. A bug, she explains, “is an insect that has a mouth like a beak and a head that forms a triangle.” She introduces a variety of other creepy crawlies and encourages children to count the body parts and legs and decide which are insects. Lastly, there are suggestions for finding out more and a list of all the insects pictured. Dramatic cut paper collage illustrations by Jenkins invite careful looking and ably extend the text. Eye-appealing and useful for beginning science enthusiasts and their parents as well. (Nonfiction. 4-7)
