The mother-son team behind Birds of a Feather returns with another arresting compilation of poems, photographs and facts about bugs.
Even those who'd rather avoid insects and spiders may come to appreciate them through these lyrical, often humorous rhymes and mesmerizing close-up images. A variety of poetic forms plus brief facts help readers differentiate between insects, spiders and in-between species such as a daddy longlegs ("How do you know/ Which leg goes first?/ Are all your walking moves/ Rehearsed?"). Alongside her first poem, "Oh, Fly" ("[o]h you are/ a lovely fly./ Just/ do not go/ and multiply"), with its photo of a house fly with a shimmering pair of wings, the poet helps distinguish between the orders of a species. Flies in the order Diptera, meaning "two" (di) "wings" (ptera), are known as "true" flies, while others, despite the "fly" in their names (such as dragonflies and mayflies) are not. A later poem, "Dragonfly Lights," with Stemple's photo of the lovely subject's four wings "of dark-stained glass," reinforces her point.
A limerick issues a warning about the praying mantis, and rhyming couplets pay tribute to the fleeting beauty of the butterfly. The most unified presentation occurs in the spread of the lilting and witty "Spider to the Poet," inspired by a photo of a glorious green and yellow arachnid spinning a web against an emerald green background, and elucidated by a succinct summary of the Greek myth of Arachne. These poems and images will inspire children to examine the creepy, crawly critters around them more closely and appreciatively. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness