Reading & Writing

How to encourage your child to write:

Choose the level of your child:
Toddler/Preschool – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and have your child draw a picture of the answer.

Preschool/Kindergarten – discuss the answer(s) out loud first and write the answer down for him/her leaving one word for him/her to write out himself/herself with your help. You could also encourage him/her to draw a picture as well.

Early Grade School – have your child either write out the answer himself/herself (encourage phonetic spelling) without your help, or offer to help with spelling each word out loud one word at a time.

Grade School – have your child write a sentence or two on his/her own and then read over and discuss the response. (You decide whether to correct the spelling or not)

Older Child – have your child write a longer response (paragraph).

As A Challenge – instead of a question ask your older child to write a story or poem about bugs, insects, spiders or other creepy crawlies.

BOOKS

Here are some picture books to check out:

Bugs! Bugs! Bugs!, by Bob Barner, Chronicle Books, 1999 - a brightly illustrated book that will be sure to please your toddler.

Bugs Galore, by Peter Stein and illustarted by Bob Staake, Candlewick Press, 2012 - A great rhyming book with whimsacle illustrations.

Bug Safari, by Bob Barner, Holiday House, 2004 - A young explore tries to find his way out of a bug-filled jungle and learns a lot along the way.

Butterfly House, by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Greg Shed, Scholastic Press, 1999 – This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of a little girl and her grandfather who save a caterpillar from a hungry bird and then take care of it until it turns into a butterfly. The end of the book includes facts on how to raise a butterfly.

Creepy Crawly Calypso, written by Tony Langham and illustrated by Debbie Harter, Barefoot Boots, 2004 - Our library book had a CD featuring Richard Love singing the delightful rhyming poem about insects.

Cricket in the Thicket: Poems about Insects, by Carol Murray and illustrated by Melissa Sweet, Christy Ottaviano Books, 2017 - with twenty-nine fun poems and facts about each featured insect, this book is sure to please.

Fly, by Karl Newsom Edwards, Alfred A. Knopf, 2015 - a sweet toddler book full of fun actions.

I Love Bugs, by Emma Dodd, Holiday House, 2010 - This is a great book for toddlers with it's large print and sing-songy phrasing.

I Love You Stick Insect, by Christ Naylor-Ballesteros, Bloomsbury, 2018 - A cute little story about a stick insect who is pretty sure he's in love.

Miss Spider's New Car, paintings and verse by David Kirk, scholastic Press, 1997 - My boys always were found of these Miss Spider books and their fun and bright illustrations.

My Busy Green Garden, by Terry Pierce and illustrated by Carol Schwartz, Tilbury house Publishers, 2017 - following a pattern similar to "the House that Jack Built" story, this one takes a look inside a busy garden.

Not A Buzz to be Found: Insects in Winter, by Linda Glaser and illustrations by Jaime Zollars, Millbrook Press, 2012 - This beautiuflly illustrated book will answer the question, where do the insects go in the winter?

Try to find some of these Non-fiction learning titles:

Classifying Insects, by Andrew Solway, Heinemann Libary, 2003 - This would be a good book for older kids as it covers a lot more detail.

Don't Squash That Bug! The Curious Kid's Guide to Insects, written by Natalie Rompella, Lobster Press, 2007 - An intersting book that examines why we need bugs!

Everyday Insects, created by Bobbie Kalman, a thorough and easy to read look at insects your child isporbably familiar with.

Everything Bug: What kids really want to know about insects and spiders, by Cherie Winner, NorthWood Press, 2004 - This book answer 28 questions kids may have about insects...like, where do bugs go in winter?, what's the difference between insects and spiders?, how long do bugs live? etc..

Extreme Bugs: Creepy and crawly, mad and bad!, by Steve Parker and illustrated by Stuart Martin, Barron's This is jam packed with insect facts for any kid who wants to learn more about creepy crawlies.

How Do Insects Protect Themselves?, by Megan Kopp, Crabtree Publishing Company, 2015 - From the Insects Close Up series, this is great for kids wanting to explore specific questions. (Other Books in the series: How Do Insects Work Together? How Do Insects Move?, Life Cycles of Insects, What do Insects Eat?, How are Insects Helpful?)

I Know about Insects, by Jane Parker, Flowerpot Press, 2014 - Another great resource with lots of interesting facts.

Insects, by Erica Donner, Bullfrog Books, 2017 - This book is for for beginner readers who want to learn little about insects. Just basic facts here.

Insects: The Most Fun Bug Book Ever, by Sneed B. Collard III, Charlesbridge, 2017 - Geared towards older kids, thsi book has a lot of detail for young entomologists.

The Insect Files: Amazing Insect Science and Bug Facts You'll Never believe, by Helaine Becker, Maple Tree Press, 2009 - this is a fun book with facts, activities, experiments, and more.

Investigating Insects with a Scientist, by Patricia J. Murphy, Enslow Pubslihers, Inc., 2004 - A good read for early grade-schoolers.

Why Am I An Insect?, by Greg Pyers, Raintree, 2006 - An excellent resource that breaks down the classification of an insect so kids can easily understand.

Up Close: Bugs & Butterflies, by Heidi Fiedler,

You Wouldn't Want to Live Without Insects!, written by Anne Ronney and illustrated by David Antram, Franklin Watts, 2015 - With great illustrations and instersting facts, this book looks at the history of insects and how they are needed and used throughout the world.

You could always just find books about your family's favourite types of bugs:

Ants, by Debbie and Brendan Gallagher, Macmillan Education, 2011 - A lot of information is packed in this little book making it a great one for kids who want to learn more about specific insects. (More titles in this Educational Australian series: Bees, Butterflies, flies, ladybirds, spiders)

Bees, by Grace Hansen, Abdo Publishing, 2015 - large text and easy to read text make this a good book for new readers wanting to learn more about bees.

Beetles, by Valerie Bodden, Creative Education, 2013 - An interesting read for grade schoolers to learn about beetles. (There are twelve other titles in this "Creepy Creatures" series as well) .

Butterflies, by Aaron Frisch, Creative Education, 2015 - this is definitely a book for beginner readers as the text is large the descriptions are pretty elementary. (Ladybugs and Bees are also featured in this series.

Crickets, by Emily K. Green, Bellweather Media, 2007 - Again, this is more of a beginner reader's book as it doesn't have a lot of text. (More titles in this series: Ants, Bumblebees, Cockraoches, Dragonflies, Fireflies, Grasshoppers and Walkingsticks)

Ladybugs, by Lisa J. Amstutz, Little Pebble Capstone Press, 2017 - This is very much an easy reader book as it has large text and not much detail but it's perfect for little scholars.

Walking Sticks: The World's Longest Insects, by Leon Gray, Bearport Publishing, 2013 - Great photographs and interesting facts adorn this easy to read book. (Also in the series: Giant Weta: The World's Biggest Grasshopper).

Bugs

JOURNALING QUESTION PROMPT:

Write out one or more of the following questions in your Family Theme Day Scrapbook or on a piece of paper to glue in your scrapbook:

How many different insects or bugs can you name? What is your favourite bug? What insect would you like to learn more about? What did you discover when reading about bugs and insects?

Photo: J. Rock

Go to the library to find books about Insects. Many libraries allow you to go online to search

and reserve titles.