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The Life Cycle of a Ladybug Bundle Review by Kelly Ann

(Includes both The Life Cycle of a Ladybug book and Ladybug Life Cycle Figurines)
Insect Lore
1-800-548-3284
132 South Beech Avenue
Shafter, CA 93263
https://www.insectlore.com

My kindergartener has always been fascinated with ladybugs ever since he was a toddler. We see a lot of them in the wild, but they also frequently grace us with their presence inside our home, especially during the late summer to early autumn months. We live in Upstate New York where the winters are quite brisk, so it's not always feasible for us to explore insect life during those cold weather months. Since my son is so intrigued with ladybugs, I'm planning on getting him a live kit in the upcoming spring season, so that the weather will be warm enough when it comes time to release them in our garden. I also thought it would be helpful to get a head start on teaching my son about ladybugs, so we've been using The Life Cycle of a Ladybug Bundle from Insect Lore to help us get started. This set is a wonderful resource that has allowed my son to get acclimated with the various life cycle stages. He's already become so knowledgeable on the topic, which will only make it all the more special when springtime comes around, and we receive our live ladybug kit to watch it all happen in real life.

The Life Cycle of a Ladybug Bundle can be purchased on the Insect Lore website for $11.99. The bundle includes both The Life Cycle of a Ladybug book and Ladybug Life Cycle Figurines. Each of these items can also be purchased separately. If purchased separately, The Life Cycle of a Ladybug book is $6.99 and the Ladybug Life Cycle Figurines are $7.99, so you are saving $2.99 if you decide to purchase the bundle, instead of each item on its own. I've personally found that it's way more beneficial to have both items instead of one or the other, since they go hand in hand with each other, especially if you're planning on doing a complete study on ladybugs.

When we first received The Life Cycle of a Ladybug Bundle, I made sure that we started reading The Life Cycle of a Ladybug book before anything. This book is part of the Blastoff Readers series, which was created to encourage a lifelong love of reading. There are currently five different reading levels in the series. The Life Cycle of a Ladybug is a level three reader, so it's meant for early readers who are a little more fluent in reading longer sentences or more complex concepts. With that being said, I've personally found the content to be suitable for all levels, since the text is simple enough to understand, even for younger children. Plus, there are plenty of beautiful photographs throughout, which also provide a visual of what's happening. My son is a beginning reader and was able to pick out a lot of the words on his own, but I made sure to sit with him to assist with anything he needed help with. Afterwards, we had a lot of back and forth discussion on what we had just read.

The book really provides young readers with all the fine details of each stage of ladybug metamorphosis, from the moment the eggs are laid on the underside of a leaf, to the incredible appetite that causes the larva to molt three times before turning into a pupa, and finally the adult stage. It was priceless to see the look on my son's face when he first saw the larva in the book's photographs. Since he was so used to seeing adult ladybugs, he didn't really know what he was looking at. He initially gave it a strange look and said, "What is that, mommy?" When I had informed him that it was a ladybug larva, also known as a "baby ladybug," he became even more intrigued by the fact that this strange looking creature would soon turn into one of his favorite insects. The back of the book also provides some additional features that have been quite helpful for our ladybug studies, including an index, glossary page with definitions of some notable keywords, as well as a "To Learn More" page that directs readers to further life cycle learning resources on the internet and at the library.

The Ladybug Life Cycle Figurines were the biggest hit for my son, since he is more of a kinesthetic and tactile learner. We partake in a lot of hands-on learning activities, because of this. Being able to hold the figurines and manipulate them provides my son with the opportunity to handle the insect in a way that may not be possible out in the wild. There are four replica figurines included to help provide a visual of each stage of ladybug metamorphosis, including the eggs, larva, pupa, and an adult ladybug. Each model is made up of durable, high-quality plastic, so they can be manipulated and even dropped without concerns of damaging them. This is an especially handy feature if being used by younger children.

Ladybugs are quite small in real life; however these figurines come in a much larger size than what you would find in nature. This is nice, because it gives my son the chance to observe all of the finer details of each life cycle stage in a way that might otherwise be more difficult. He can see details such as the colored line patterns on the larva and the hard exterior ridges of the pupa. What I especially like about the figurines is that they look quite realistic and are actually true to what you'd find in nature, only on a much larger scale. Both the egg and pupa models are displayed on leaves to accurately depict what actually happens in the wild. The paint work on each replica is exquisitely detailed. If they weren't larger in size, you might even think that they were the real thing. Since each model is anatomically correct, they will also come in handy when we move on to a general study of the various parts of an insect (antennae, legs, thorax, etc.).

The Life Cycle of a Ladybug Bundle is a fantastic set of educational tools that helps provide a basic introduction to the various stages of ladybug metamorphosis. Both the book and figurine set definitely go hand in hand with each other, and offer a solid foundation for the beginning studies of the life cycle of a ladybug. I'm extremely happy that I had decided to supplement our studies with this bundle. It's going to be wonderful when we receive the live ladybug kit and watch everything come together. We're actually enjoying this set so much; I already have plans on purchasing The Life Cycle of a Butterfly Bundle from Insect Lore in the near future.

-Product review by Kelly Ann, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, December, 2018

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