I started the "Bugs Are Ucky!" Campaign with my oldest son when he was about two years old. My thinking was simple: if I could convince Josiah that bugs are "ucky," he wouldn't be bringing home all kinds of creepy-crawlies for the next 16 years. The campaign was a roaring success, with him dutifully repeating the mantra after me, for about a year. That's when the genetics of being a boy kicked in and he decided that bugs were actually kind of cool, despite what mom said. We laugh about this miserably failed campaign now that Josiah is 15 and can tell you anything you want to know about any type of bug! The funny thing is that after watching his natural curiosity about the small creatures God made, I kind of (only kind of, mind you) decided that maybe bugs are not all that "ucky" after all.

Whether you are in the "bugs are ucky" camp or the "bugs are cool" camp, I think you will love the book Brainy Bugs: Funny Facts for Curious Kids, by Dr. Karen Smith. Dr. Smith has written and illustrated a delightful children's book to show kids that bugs are actually pretty interesting creatures. She shows a different type of bug for each letter of the alphabet and uses short rhyming poems to describe some of the interesting characteristics and behavior of each bug. The book also has charming illustrations to bring the bugs to life. Every page includes fascinating information, such as explaining that bees keep their hive cool by fanning their wings, or that you can tell the temperature by counting a katydid's chirps, or that the Queen Alexandra's Bird Wing butterfly has a wingspan of 12 inches! This is a wonderful book that children, and adults, will want to read over and over as they learn more about God's amazing creatures. And just in case you are wondering, our other three sons were spared the "Bugs Are Ucky" Campaign as we realized you can't fight genetics. But there may be hope for our young daughter!

Product review by Dr. Anne Margaret Wright, Senior Product Reviewer, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June 2009