A Wasp Is Not a Bee

by Marilyn Singer, Patrick O'Brien (Illustrator)

Most people know the difference between a cat and a dog. But the differences between certain other animals are not so obviuos, which is why it's so easy to confuse them.

You may guess that the insect trying to eat your icecream cone is a bee, but it's probably a yellow-jacket wasp. You may think that the chimp sitting in a tree in the forest is a monkey, but it's really an ape. How can you tell these and other similar animals apart? By using your eyes, ears, and all your senses to observe them--and by reading this book.

Genres: Nonfiction, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.

In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.

Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

Reviews

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

book covers a number of different animals that may be assumed to be closer related than they actually are (chimpanzee is not a monkey) OR easily confused (alligator is not a crocodile). Enjoyable and interesting.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative, but bite size enough for elementary readers. Adults will learn a lot too through the facts and illustrations.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a brief description to help with typical animal confusion: spider vs. insect, koala vs bear, butterfly vs moth, etc. super helpful! There are some yucky details like how the spider sucks out the insides of its prey...