It’s worth saying at the beginning, just to be clear, that we are all HUGE Dr Jess French fans in house McAnulty! Bláthnaid goes goggly eyed because, she’s such a cool and amazing role model and well, she just has a really relaxed but utterly spellbinding style when she talks about insects…not that I watch CBeebies of course! 😉

A bug thumbs up from Bee!

We have a couple of other books for younger kids but, as Bee is now 8, she is more than ready to move on to ‘proper’ fact books. This is a proper fact book, it’s so good!! Quite often we just see identification guides with the insect as a specimen but this book makes it such an immersive experience as we see lots of action shots, some with Jess herself! These photos in particular are very important as the attitude towards our insects and arachnids are quite often one of fear and disgust. Jess bursts these myths without anthropomorphising at all – just fabulous facts and brilliant science. We are introduced to a plethora of amazing creatures all with fascinating behaviours and cool evolutionary adaptations. We’re also educated as to how important invertebrates are to a healthy eco system – such an important message!

The book is divided into three sections – Eat, Prey (attack and defense) and Love (courtship and caring for young). The photos are glorious and the content is easy to read but also meaty and scientific. This makes for a great read for both older (or younger big girls and boys) kids and adults alike. Mum absolutely loved it and my dad, who’s an ecologist really thought it was excellent! The layout is great too, making it such a fab book to either dip in and out of, or read all st once – like I did! A brilliant book for all the family and in my opinion should be in every school too! We need more people like Jess, who are brilliant bug ambassadors, great communicators and fantastic role models – especially for girls!

Huge thanks to Bloomsbury Wildlife (the link brings you to the book page if you’d like to order direct from Bloomsbury) and Jess for sending me this copy. I have no doubt it will be read and reread again and again. Get it now, you/your family will absolutely love it and thank you for it! Ask your library to order it and if you can, buy/order it from your local bookshop.

I’m a bit embarrassed about this…but a wise counsel recommended it. I’m saving up for a moth trap and so, if you enjoy my blog – you could help me here Thank you!

Thanks for reading

Dara