CICADAS ARE COMING
Invasion of the Periodical Cicadas
by Doug Wechsler
Middle Grade Nonfiction
32 pages
ages 4 to 8
When a million bugs come out of the ground at once, children pay attention. Periodical cicadas don't disappoint. Almost every animal in the area fills its stomach. Then after a month the feast and the cacophony suddenly stops.
This book is about one of the oddest insect life cycles on the planet the periodical or 17-year cicada.
The beautiful photographs and engaging text bring to life every aspect of this insect's life from a unique view of the eggs inside a twig, to its transformation to the noisiest insect around. Author Doug Wechsler, once again, brings the natural world in focus for children.
MY TIDBITS
Not only cicada fans will enjoy this lovely book because the title says it all; the cicadas are coming.
First off, this is an amazingly, illustrated book. The photographs not only are well done, but they are spot on and coincide very nicely with the text. Not only are the cicadas shown in their natural settings with tons of details, but there's even a cross-section of one (which was found dead) to help readers see exactly the parts of the cicadas, which are being explained. I can't imagine a better way to bring across the information visually.
The text fits the age group and is easy to read, while not talking down to the reader. The facts are brought across smoothly and not overly technically. In other words, it doesn't feel too heavy while reading, and the author tries to make it seem as if he's directly explaining it to the reader.
This isn't a book for younger, picture book fans. The book assumes that the reader has a simple knowledge on several aspects of insects, and this might go a bit over some younger reader's heads. The intended age group shouldn't have any troubles with it, though. I see this one not only great for classrooms and homeschooling but also a wonderful read for nonfiction fans to grab up. They'll definitely see cicadas in a different way after reading this one
1 comment:
Sounds really worthwhile. We love listening to the cicadas and knowing more about them will make it an even richer experience.
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