Summary: The title of this book is a bit misleading. Insectlopedia, by Douglas Florian, is book dedicated to insects and spiders. The reader will find a very helpful table of contents listing the 21 insects represented in the book. Each poem is a two page spread with the poem on one page and Mr. Florian’s drawings on the other.
Quality: This book earns high ratings from me for quality. Mr. Florian’s pictures provide a sensory image for each of the insects and spiders in a fun way. While students will recognize each of the insects and spiders, I doubt they will respond with the “oh, gross” or “yuck!” responses that might come from actual photographs of these things. These poems are written in rhymes which come very easily to the ready. They seem to flow without thought. There is also a lot of variety in the formatting of the poems. Some have lots of white space, some, like “Inchworm” and “The Termites” are concrete poems, and one, “The Whirligig Beetles” is written in a circle. These different formats will keep the reader interested page after page.
Appeal: This book will appeal to a student audience for several reasons. First, the illustrations and the formatting mentioned above will keep students’ attention. Second, the topic of this book is familiar to students. The book starts with “The Caterpillar”, an insect that most students are aware of by Kindergarten. It goes next to “The Dragonfly” which is an insect students might not be so familiar with but steps immediately into another familiar friend, “The Daddy Longlegs”. This interlacing of the familiar with the unfamiliar will keep students turning the pages of this book. The language used is very good for young students. There are a few words young students won’t know but they will know enough to understand the poems. These poems will also expand the knowledge students have about insects and spiders. For example, in “The Dragonfly” and “The Praying Mantis”, students learn that dragonflies eat flies, bees and mosquitoes and praying mantis eats caterpillars, moths and bees.
My Favorite: I can’t say I have just one favorite because I really like all of these poems. I had not known of Douglas Florian prior to this review and I’m glad I have discovered him. One of my favorites is:
“The Monarch Butterfly”
He is a monarch
He is a king.
He flies great migrations.
Past nations he wings.
He is a monarch.
He is a prince.
When blackbirds attack him,
From poison they wince.
He is a monarch.
He is a duke.
Swallows that swallow him
Frequently puke.
Use: I can see this book being used well by all grades in elementary school, but I particularly see it being used in 1st grade with studies of insects and spiders. It would be very easy to only read portions of this book, as needed. The poems could be used as a way to introduce other books about a particular insect. Because the language is so simple, most of these poems could be read by students in choral reading. The artwork in the book is so perfectly descriptive of the written word that I can also see this being used in an upper level art class with students working on illustrating written material.
References:Florian, Douglas. 1998. Insectlopedia. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace & Company. ISBN: 0-15-201306-7.
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