All About Bugs

Bugs by Rosie Dickins

Learn all about bugs in this nonfiction children’s book with detailed colorful photographs. Topics covered include: what is a bug, bug bodies, senses, on the move, bugs and plants, hunting for food, in disguise, finding a mate, baby bugs, living together, in the ground, underwater, true bugs, beetles, butterflies and moths, flies, ants, bees and wasps, spiders, bad bugs, helpful bugs, amazing facts, using the internet and index. It also has descriptions of Web sites specially chosen to take you further into the subject in a fun and informative way. You can find links to the sites on the Usborne Quicklinks Web site at https://www.usborne.com/quicklinks

 

 

Bugs and Bugsicles by Amy S. Hansen, illustrated by Robert C. Cray

Where do bugs go in the winter? Some die, laying eggs to hatch in the spring. Others do different things, like ladybugs that huddle together for warmth, monarch butterflies that migrate all the way to Mexico, and woolly bear caterpillars who actually freeze and spend the winter as bugsicles.

Insects do amazing things with this part of their anatomy. Discover the different ways insects use their butts to avoid predators. Spittlebugs blow bubbles from their butts and hide under them, while some caterpillars shoot their poop far from their bodies to throw poop-searching wasps off their trail. Ants and beetles spray acid from their butts into the faces of predators, while some caterpillars and larvae build hide-outs with their poop to keep predators away.

Bug Zoo by Nick Baker

This nonfiction is a great book to use as a resource capturing, keeping and caring for insects found in your backyard.

Super Bugs by Michelle Meadows and illustrated by Bill Mayer

Fun rhyming picture book that includes ants, beetles, bumblebees, butterflies, caterpillars, cicadas, cockroaches, crickets, daddy longlegs, dragonflies, fireflies, fleas, grasshoppers, houseflies, mosquitoes, moths, spiders, stinkbugs, and termites.

Other insect themed picture books:

I Love Bugs by Emma Dodd

Anna Aphid by Christine Goppel

Step by Step by Diane Wolkstein

Insect activities for preschoolers:

Insect identification: https://www.insectidentification.org/

Create insects out of felt pieces here:

https://www.teach-me-mommy.com/build-a-bug-busy-box/

Printable backyard insect chart here: https://entfdn.files.wordpress.com/2018/01/enlist_lesson_1_of_4_-_order_chart.pdf

Scholastic activities: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bugs/

Create your own super bug: http://www.mylearning.org/minibeasts/interactive-intro/4-77/

Bug bingo game: http://www.jemome.com/p-printable-insect-cards-899811/

Frogs are Fun!

Frogs by Julie Murray

This is an informational nonfiction book about frogs and their life cycle. It’s a perfect introduction for preschoolers with easy to understand text and beautiful photography  of the frogs’ natural habitat, the physical changes it undergoes, and its food sources.

How a Tadpole Grows into a Frog by David Stewart, illustrated by Carolyn Franklin

This nonfiction book explores the natural cycle of a frog’s life with colorful torn-paper illustrations. There is a glossary of words as well as illustrations of the frog as an egg, then as a tadpole at 7 weeks, turning into a frog at 9 weeks and its growth at 12, 14 and 20 weeks and fully grown.

Tale of a Tadpole written by Karen Wallace

This nonfiction book uses detailed photographs to illustrate the life cycle of a frog. From an egg on a lily pad to a tadpole hiding from the dangers of the pond (including hungry fish and beetles) until he grows up into a frog.

999 Tadpoles

The story begins with 999 tadpoles growing up in a pond but they need a place to live that has more room for all of the big frog family. So they start to explore the world beyond the pond but the frog family runs into predators such as snakes and hawks. The story has a humorous conclusion as the frogs find their new home.

Jump, Frog, Jump! by Robert Kalan and illustrated by Byron Barton

Jump, Frog, Jump! is about a frog that is going across the pond where he is almost eaten by a snake. Frog must jump away from different dangers across the pond until he is caught by two young boys in a net. One of the boys lets him go saying “jump, frog, jump!”.

The Croaky Pokey! by Ethan Long

In this fun frog themed version of the classic “Hokey Pokey,” a pond full of animals such as frogs, fish, birds, and alligators all try to capture a dragonfly buzzing just out of reach, while singing and dancing to a froggy version of the “Hokey Pokey” called the “Croaky Pokey.” In the “Croaky Pokey” children do all the same body motions featured in the original, but then “hop the Croaky Pokey as they chase a fly around, right in the froggy’s mouth!

One Frog Sang by Shirley Parenteau and illustrated by Cynthia Jabar

One Frog Sang shares some of the many kinds of sounds different frogs make! It is also a counting book, where one frog says ker-bloop, two frogs say peep peep, and continues up to ten different frog sounds.

Frog on a Log by Kes Gray and illustrated by Jim Field

 This is a hilarious, rhyming story about a frog who thinks that the rule that all frogs sit on logs is unfair because logs are uncomfortable. What follows is the cat informing the frog about the rules of where certain animals are allowed to sit. For example, a frog sits on a log, a cat sits on a mat, a flea sits on a pea, a parrot sits on a carrot, etc. A very funny book that the preschoolers really enjoyed.

AhHa by Jeff Mack

Only two letters are used in this book. The words ah and ha take on new meaning as the story unfolds. A frog escapes capture from a boy with a jar, a turtle, an alligator, and a flamingo. The illustrations play a huge role in telling this story, but it’s the words, the tone, and the meaning behind each one that captivate young audiences.

Printable frog puppets: https://picklebums.com/five-green-frogs-printable/

Frog Jump: Measurement and Gross Motor Activity: https://www.coffeecupsandcrayons.com/frog-jump-measurement-and-gross-motor-activity/

Life Cycle Of A Frog Activities: https://teachwithme.com/blogs/getting-to-the-core/item/4987-life-cycle-of-a-frog-activities-frog-crafts

https://resource-bank.scholastic.co.uk/resources/12397