MY STINKY SUMMER BY S. BUG

A malodorous insect narrates its autobiography.

A brown marmorated (“veined or streaked like marble,” according to the glossary) stink bug describes its summer life cycle and activities in diary form. While the creature celebrates its birth in early June, having hatched from one of 28 eggs laid on the underside of a leaf, others are less than thrilled. This is partly because S. Bug’s more-vile-than-fragrant aroma protects it from being eaten and threatened by neighbors. Text is minimal in this fact-filled, captivating title. Sentences are concise and witty, capturing the voice of this feisty individualist. Readers will learn much about the smelly insect, including facts about its plant-based diet—which, unhappily, makes it a crop-damaging pest—and how it develops, after several larval stages, into a fully grown winged creature. Throughout, pithy, comically negative points of view about the stink bug are expressed as hand-lettered dialogue by other animals and insects. The book ends with S. Bug’s search for a suitable winter home, which it locates in early October and from which it will emerge the following spring. Appealing colorful illustrations depict natural-world details, rendered in vivid colors. White space and light-colored backgrounds allow kids to focus on S. Bug’s activities and habitat. Illustrated facts about stink bugs appear on the endpapers, which are designed so that no text is covered by the flyleaves.

Ew! Here’s an enticing critter children won’t soon forget.