Within this unit, I’ve listed activities for many books about bugs, but there are certainly more to be considered! Here are a few I’ve enjoyed with many a little one. Please comment with your own favorites as well! I’m always up for a new read!
Miss Spider’s Tea Party by David Kirk is a fun rhyming read that mixes the concept of friendship with counting, while introducing a myriad of creepy crawly characters along the way. You may also want to check out the simplified counting book version, or other titles in the Miss Spider series.
Bumblebee, Bumblebee, Do You Know Me? by Anne Rockwell mixes bugs and plants in a guessing game format for one fantastic summertime read.
Icky Bug Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta lists a bug for every letter and gives brief, factual information about each one. From the ants to the zebra butterflies this icky book keeps kids reading! Don’t forget to include other informational, non-fiction bug books in your collection! Especially when it comes to creepy crawlies, sometimes truth is stranger – and more fascinating – than fiction.
In The Flea’s Sneeze, by Lynn Downey, a teeny tiny flea with a cold causes mayhem in a drowsy barnyard. A simply silly book with perfect rhythm and rhyme for supporting phonemic awareness.
If you’re looking for a read-aloud or books for older children, consider some favorites from your own childhood, like James and the Giant Peach with its wonderfully oversized buggy characters; the 1961 runner-up for the Newberry Award, The Cricket in Times Square; or the timeless classic, Charlotte’s Web.
And in case you missed them, here are the book activities listed here previously:
Eric Carle Author Study:
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Art Activity)
- The Grouchy Ladybug (Math Activity)
- The Very Busy Spider (Art Activity)
- The Very Lonely Firefly (Science and Dramatic Play Activity)
- The Very Clumsy Click Beetle (Physical and Creative Activities)
- The Very Quiet Cricket (Science Activity)
What are your favorite books starring the creepy and crawly?
Top photo by bluedaisy.
Thanks! I just reserved them all online at our local library. My girls LOVED bugs. I am excited.
I hope you enjoy them, Zina!
Some of my very favorite bug books have simply been the non-fiction books from the library. I have done caterpillars, butterflies, ants and frogs with my son and the kids I nanny (ages 1, 2, 4). I always check out a bunch of fiction and non-fiction books for the unit, but after the first two I have checked out more non-fiction than fiction for the rest of the units. They LOVE the true-to life pictures and have asked all sorts of questions from things they see in those books. Other than introducing the fiction books to the kids- they haven’t touched them since. They always pick the non-fiction. I have enjoyed it so much, and I have learned plenty of things that I didn’t know along the way! I have also particularly enjoyed the unplanned learning. For example, I wasn’t planning on teaching them the body parts of ants, but because of the book’s diagrams and their questions- they know an ant has a head, abdomen (“ajonen”), and thorax (“forax”). I have just been astounded the way they pour over these non-fiction books. I would recommend plenty of them for any unit!
It’s so true, Andrea! Kids love those “textbook” type books, and they learn so much!
The Bugliest Bug (can’t think of author) is a fave around our house!
Great title!
Thank you for the list. Here’s a few of our faves:
Amy’s Light by Robert Nutt
Firefly Mountain by Patricia Thomas
I’m a Little Pill Bug by Yukihisa Tokuda
Honey: A Gift from Nature by Yumiko Fujiwara
In Front of the Ant by Ryuichi Kuwahara
Roberto, The Insect Architect by Nina Laden
Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe
Big Book of Bugs by Theresa Greenaway
Thank you for sharing your list, Wendy! Those sound great!