4 out of 5 stars
The publisher provided a copy of this, free of charge, in return for an honest review.
Some people can’t abide insects or other types of creepy crawlies, but having read this beautifully made book, I can’t understand why they wouldn’t find these types of animals fascinating.
There is one insect or minibeast per week to learn about and the authors have chosen all types from all over the world. There are spiders, ants, bees, butterflies and even a praying mantis. There are details on their lifecycle, the folklore and the way that humans need these animals as part of a complete ecosystem.
I did have a few favourites from the selection; the Hummingbird Hawk Moth, the Dark-Edged Bee-Fly, Rose Chafer and the Peacock Jumping Spider.
I really liked this book. There are lovely illustrations throughout by Lesley Buckingham of each of the insects, but the best bit is being able to scan the QR code to go to the Batsford website to watch a short video of each of the minibeasts in question. Even if you are not into bugs, I would still recommend this, after all none of them in the book are going to bite!
One a week sounds like a fun project – did you read your chapter on a particular day each week?
I was sent it part of the way through the year so ending up reading a months worth at a time, normally on a Sunday morning