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Crawly School for Bugs Poems to Drive You Buggy
Welcome to Crawly School for Bugs! Termites, stink bugs, gnats, and every insect in between attend this buzzy school where crickets take classes like "How to Be Annoying in 4 Easy Steps." Some students struggle with the temptation to eat fellow classmates, while others deal with a mosquito nurse who always wants to draw blood, or attempt to make friends despite their own microscopic size. With funny illustrations by Julie Bayless, these humorous poems by award-winning author David L. Harrison are perfect for poetry fans and bug enthusiasts alike.
32 pages, Hardcover
Published March 20, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 9, 2024
This book is full of poems about different types of bugs, which I found cute and funny! The poems talk about all types of bugs under the sun, and he explains them all in a different way that is extremely quirky as well. I feel as if it is a book that is really enjoyable for readers, mainly a younger audience, but if you enjoy bugs as well and you're older like me, then I recommend it to you as well!
August 6, 2018
These poems are fun and smiley. I enjoyed them and I think lots of children and other adults like myself will also. There's also some information about the bugs which makes for a little fun learning.
The illustrations really add to the poems and I can see having a chat about the pictures after reading the accompanying poem to a little someone. In fact, I am getting this as a gift and looking forward to reading it to a special little someone.
The illustrations really add to the poems and I can see having a chat about the pictures after reading the accompanying poem to a little someone. In fact, I am getting this as a gift and looking forward to reading it to a special little someone.
December 3, 2018
This is the review I wrote for the Seattle Book Review. Imagine, if you will, a school for bugs — little bugs, big bugs, lightning bugs, hopping bugs, crawling bugs, flying bugs, stinking bugs, even blood-sucking bugs. Imagine the antics of these bugs as they play, learn, count, bug the teacher, and get into buggy mischief. School is something kids know about, and bugs are something kids, for the most part, like. What a great combination for a children’s picture book! Then imagine perfectly charming, playful, fresh, funny poems by a master of children’s poetry, David L. Harrison — some rhyming, some alliterative, and some just plain silly. Place all these poems on illustrations by Julie Bayless, a master in her own right, that capture the sense of each poem and are filled with the most marvelous details. Kids will want to read this book over and over and will enjoy the poems with every reading. Their eyes will be glued to the illustrations as they find more and more giggles scattered around the pages. The illustrations are bright and perfectly enchanting. The poems couldn’t be more whimsical or delightful. This book will become a favorite of children, parents, and teachers alike. Don’t miss it.
May 8, 2018
Another wonderful book just right for spring when insects, those "crawly bugs" seem to appear immediately, and then, according to David L. Harrison, they go to school! "Come by air/hop or crawl--/Crawly School/welcomes all!" This opening poem is wonderfully illustrated by Julie Bayless in a woodland setting that shows each "student" journeying to school, bag or backpack with each. Considering that these insects have poems that show their school actions, some not so good, it will be great fun to learn about the insects and compare what David has written, and Julia Bayless has illustrated to verify the truth, or what can be interpreted in a different way. The poor tick has a people problem: "She [the teacher] says they hate it when we bite/hide our heads and dig in tight." In "What's Left of Termite Class" - not much, because "We ate the walls/and foundation, hungry for more/alliteration." The school nurse, of course, is a mosquito, who "always takes some blood". You'll need to see this page, with other classmates leaving unhappily! Among other tips, there also "What We Learn in Bird Class". Imagination rules this school, and kids will love comparing it to their own!
July 9, 2018
School is out for most kids and teachers in the U.S., but young insects have a lot to learn. Take a look at David L. Harrison's _Crawly School for Bugs: Poems to Drive You Buggy_ to see what school might be like for ticks, termites, mosquitoes, and other insects. Imaginative, informative, and laugh-out-loud funny, the poems might make you think twice before grabbing the can of Raid.
Julie Bayless enhances the humor with her illustrations, characterizing scenes and caricaturizing the bugs. My favorite is the spread that accompanies "What's Left of Termite Class," which shows termites in classroom mayhem. (Use the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon to see it and other illustrations.)
Harrison's well-crafted poems have perfect rhythm and rhyme to make for fun reading out loud, with worthy punchlines at the end to amp up the humor. One of my favorites is "Stink Bug Class."
"Smell that smell?"
complained a kid.
At first we didn't,
then we did!"
I don't want to give away the rest, but this poem strikes me as one that kids will relate to.
I love the summer sun and fun, but when bugs start swarming? Not so much. This book helps me look at bugs in a whole new way!
Julie Bayless enhances the humor with her illustrations, characterizing scenes and caricaturizing the bugs. My favorite is the spread that accompanies "What's Left of Termite Class," which shows termites in classroom mayhem. (Use the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon to see it and other illustrations.)
Harrison's well-crafted poems have perfect rhythm and rhyme to make for fun reading out loud, with worthy punchlines at the end to amp up the humor. One of my favorites is "Stink Bug Class."
"Smell that smell?"
complained a kid.
At first we didn't,
then we did!"
I don't want to give away the rest, but this poem strikes me as one that kids will relate to.
I love the summer sun and fun, but when bugs start swarming? Not so much. This book helps me look at bugs in a whole new way!
October 13, 2019
The premise of this clever bug fest is a "bug school" located in a rotting log. Vaguely familiar school issues and relationships unfold, depicting the various personalities of
"...hummers,
tweeters,
SINGERS,
diggers,
LEAPERS,
creepers,
wingers."
The charming appeal of the rhymed verses and colorful illustrations is their artful balance between scientific accuracy and anthropomorphized details in expressions and costuming. The premise is established with the school rule: NEVER EAT A FRIEND AT SCHOOL. Then various insects and other bugs each deal with species-specific coping lessons, ranging from ticks with sore bottoms (from being extracted), stink bugs who are unpopular, a wasp who zaps a nosy dog, a school nurse who tends toward drawing blood (mosquito, naturally), and a janitor who happily gathers muck and dung (Mr. D, the dung beetle) to name a few. Smiles are generated on every page, while science slips in as slick as slime.
"...hummers,
tweeters,
SINGERS,
diggers,
LEAPERS,
creepers,
wingers."
The charming appeal of the rhymed verses and colorful illustrations is their artful balance between scientific accuracy and anthropomorphized details in expressions and costuming. The premise is established with the school rule: NEVER EAT A FRIEND AT SCHOOL. Then various insects and other bugs each deal with species-specific coping lessons, ranging from ticks with sore bottoms (from being extracted), stink bugs who are unpopular, a wasp who zaps a nosy dog, a school nurse who tends toward drawing blood (mosquito, naturally), and a janitor who happily gathers muck and dung (Mr. D, the dung beetle) to name a few. Smiles are generated on every page, while science slips in as slick as slime.
May 6, 2018
An assortment of bugs attends Crawly School, held in a hollow log. Twenty short poems humorously written from the bugs’ point of view provide insight into their day. For instance, the stink bugs are chagrined when they realize that they are the ones causing the odor in the classroom, the termite larvae eat everything in the room including the room itself, and the praying mantis struggles, but manages to obey the school motto, “Never eat a friend at school!” When it comes to the mosquito that serves as school nurse, no matter what ailment her students have, naturally she treats them all the same -- by drawing blood! Busy, colorful images animate the buggy students’ antics. This might sound odd, but I wish the bugs were drawn a bit more attractive. The poems are so whimsical, but to me, the bugs didn’t fit the tone of the poems – I'd rather have seen them be cuter, more appealing.
November 19, 2018
Harrison has created twenty giggle-inducing rhymes about the students and staff at bug school. A horsefly gets a D- in Social Skills for...biting horses. The cheerleaders chant the school motto: "Never Eat a Friend at School!" Crickets learn how to be annoying in four easy steps. The mosquito school nurse's prescription for every complaint is to draw some blood. Grasshoppers are disgusted to learn that people eat them. Bayless' watercolor ink, colored pencil and digital art is detailed and adds to the humor of these anthropomorphized insects' school lives.
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October 20, 2019This story was absolutely gross. It goes on to talk about bugs and insects which made me itch all over. Although it was filled with crawling creatures It was fun for children to learn about insects. It had great pictures which made all the insects look very realistic. It is a fun story for children.
April 27, 2020
What I like about this book is that it helps bugs seem less scary. As a young child I was not really scared of bugs, but as I have grown older I am now terrified. However this book showed bugs going to school and doing normal 'human' things. It is a lovely poetry book that I would recommend.
August 22, 2024
We purchased this book directly from the author who we met at a gathering of poet laureates. He recommended it as a book for our granddaughter’s third grade classroom which she is teaching. seems right to me after my own reading.
August 15, 2018
Light-hearted verse imagines what goes on at insect school.
February 13, 2019
This is a great children's book by David L. Harrison. The illustrator of Crawly School for Bugs is, Julie Bayless. This book was published in 2018. This book is great for the classroom because it's short poems so the children can read one poem or many at a time. Early reader, humorous picture book with bugs.
March 23, 2019
I love this book! Poems from a bug’s perspective. Hilarious!
July 11, 2019
Cleverly written poems about what life would be like at a bug school. The light-hearted illustrations and quirky poems really set the tone for this cute poetry compilation.
October 27, 2019
Fun book about all different bugs and if they ran a school what their job would be. A mosquito for the nurse makes me nervous!
September 8, 2020
Sly and snappy poems with a lot of humor and a bit of buggy info, too!
November 23, 2020
These poems are so fun, and kid-friendly! This book also has information about bugs which makes it fun for a little bit of learning. The illustrations are great in this book as well.
July 16, 2021
Who knew bugs could be such fun! Great poems about different bugs. Love the school nurse one. :)
September 10, 2021
Not my favorite creepy-crawly book about bugs yet it would still be an asset to include in any lesson plan about insects or poetry for children.
May 19, 2018
This book would be worth the read just for the illustrations. The title pages shows a long, multi-legged bug all in yellow serving as a school bus for small bugs. The title itself appears on the back of this incredibly loooong bug. The verso and dedication pages show young insects making their way to school using their wings, hitching a ride on a blowing leaf, or clutching a swirling maple seed. Details throughout the collection include backpacks with multiple straps (insects have more than two arms, after all),while the cricket lessons show a series of nighttime scenes with the moon looking on and wearing a nightcap.
The text of the poems are incredibly funny and will remind readers of favorites like Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. If the answer to every visit to the clinic is, "I'd better take some blood," can you imagine what type of insect is the nurse? The praying mantis bemoans how hard it is not to eat classmates at lunchtime. And grasshoppers are very upset to learn that people eat them: "It's fine to eat the farmer's crop but eating US has got to stop!!"
An amusing anthology that would work well with the study of poetry or units on insects, and perfect for a multidisciplinary approach combining the two. Poems like these are helpful to use with reluctant poetry students who assume that the sentiments in Valentine's cards are the only type of poetry that exist, i.e. mushy, gushy, romantic stuff. Showing that poetry can be used to reflect on any subject of interest, even stink bugs, can lure boys and reluctant readers into trying out this genre.
I received a copy from the publisher for review purposes.
The text of the poems are incredibly funny and will remind readers of favorites like Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. If the answer to every visit to the clinic is, "I'd better take some blood," can you imagine what type of insect is the nurse? The praying mantis bemoans how hard it is not to eat classmates at lunchtime. And grasshoppers are very upset to learn that people eat them: "It's fine to eat the farmer's crop but eating US has got to stop!!"
An amusing anthology that would work well with the study of poetry or units on insects, and perfect for a multidisciplinary approach combining the two. Poems like these are helpful to use with reluctant poetry students who assume that the sentiments in Valentine's cards are the only type of poetry that exist, i.e. mushy, gushy, romantic stuff. Showing that poetry can be used to reflect on any subject of interest, even stink bugs, can lure boys and reluctant readers into trying out this genre.
I received a copy from the publisher for review purposes.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews