Bella Loves Bugs

Bella Loves Bugs is a science based and adorably illustrated book on entomology for young readers (ca 4-7 years) by Dr. Jess French and Duncan Beedie. Released 19th April 2022 by Quarto on their Happy Yak imprint, it's 48 pages and is available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is such a whimsical and charming book. I was impressed with the number of engaging facts and nature information crammed into the pages. The pages are set up in frames with text boxes explaining safety, equipment, how-to find and interact with insects and information relevant for both children and their caregivers/facilitators. Although the illustrations are drawn and there aren't photographs, species pictures are clear and specific enough for general identification.

The grouping of insects is also charming and logical for small kids. The author and illustrator have grouped them into "bees", "hopping insects", "pond creatures", "beetles" and so on. Scattered throughout are gentle reminders for readers about how they can help support, feed, and guard habitat so bugs will always be there. The book also includes a bit of info on other invertebrates (snails and slugs).

The collection details in the book emphasize catch and release and gentle observation. The author never mentions collecting for display, and there are no kill-jars or euthanasia details included.

For educators, the children in the book are ethnically diverse and main character Bella is a little girl with friends who are both male and female. It's refreshing to see a wide variety of representation. It's never emphasized in the text, but it is there.

Five stars. This would be a good choice for public or school library acquisition, classroom use, or the home library.

Disclosure: I received a pre-release recording at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Kids, meet Bella. You will have lots of fun with her as you learn more about bugs. Join Bella as you learn about caterpillars, ants. bees, butterflies and more. There is a lot packed into this cheerily illustrated title.

I was very impressed by the quantity and quality of the information in this title. I highly recommend it to young entomologists and their adults.

Many thanks to Quarto-Frances Lincoln Children’s Books and NetGalley for this title. All opinions are my own.

From the characters we meet here I guess there will be four books in this series, with this one – as you can tell – giving us a day in the life of a bug fan. Bella is a wannabe entomologist so knows how to fish bugs from pond water safely, how to lay traps to examine captured critters before letting them free, and how to have some caterpillars in her house. Oh, and spiders get mentioned too, even if of course they're nothing like insects. Visually it's very cartoonish and flat-seeming, but the book has more in it than may at first be evident – multiple font sizes means different levels of captioning can be given to all the close-up illustrations, and there are relevant box-outs and galleries to be had too. Ultimately, being like Bella looks a cool thing to be.

A fun-fact kind of fun, informative read about different bugs with basic colourful illustrations which I feel is quite educational for the young readers.

Love the presentation. It's minimal, clean and cute as well.

Thank you, Quarto Publishing Group Frances Lincoln Children's, for the advance reading copy.

A wonderful book about a little girl who loves bugs! I love the enthusiastic and educational tone of this one. The illustrations are vibrant and wonderful. Kids who are interested in insects will really enjoy this one. This might also be good for children who are afraid of bugs. It's a little long for 3 year olds, but kids ages 4-6 would probably love it. It goes a little in depth and provides basic information about ethical bug care and why insects are vital to our environment.

Thank you for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Bella Loves Bugs" is a wonderfully informative introduction to entomology for young kids. It touches on a range of relevant topics such as lifecycles, eusociality, and ecological relevance.

The illustrations are great and the text uses simple, age appropriate terms.

This is a perfect introduction to insects and due to its informative nature, I feel I could read it to my kids several times without getting bored.

I look forward to adding a copy to our family bookcase.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you are looking for a colorful, engaging, and instructive children's book about various types of insects, this book is for you. The colorful illustrations make clear similarities and differences in common and uncommon insects. Any young bug explorer will love this book.

Do you have a child who loves bugs? This is the book for them. Learn all about the different kinds of bugs that Bella comes across as she explores. Learn what you need to pack in order to explore bugs and what safety precautions you need to take, in a child friendly way. The illustrations are bright and colorful, while accurate to the insects included.

What a cute way to discover bugs!

This was a pretty illustrated book about Bella who goes out and explores the different types of bugs there is.

You get to know what to have with you on a trip out, such a scrapbook and an ID guide. Throughout the book you get to see different types of bugs, everything from ants, to beetles, and so much more. It’s like an adventure in the book!

I’d recommend this to bug lovers, children (and adults!) who are curious about bugs (if you are an adult like me and want to see illustrated bugs, this is the one! Some bugs is scary, I’m going to admit that, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to learn more about them).

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books for presenting me with an ARC of this book in exchange of a honest review.

BELLA LOVES BUGS is a very insightful story about insects. This had way more useful content than I'd expected and I was honestly surprised. This would be a very great book if you want to teach your kids more about the world of insects or if they're interested. This book covers many insects—common or uncommon—and shines light on many of their special characteristics.

The only thing I didn't like was that the format was a bit off, and made a little hard to read. Other than that, I greatly enjoyed this short story.

Bella loves bugs is a book from the Nature heroes series. Bella is a little girl who wants to become an entomologist. She takes us with her through her day of studying different bugs.

This book is packed with interesting information and detailed illustrations. The writing is engaging. A very valuable and educational book for kids. This would also make a great classroom resource.

What a cute book! I think this is a nice way to introduce different types of bugs to young children!

Fun fact, I have started a little personal children’s library of my own for someday down the road if I end up with future generations, and if not for any little visitors. I’ve so enjoyed collecting and choosing books so far and my family has even gifted me some. We are a big and nature family so when I saw this on NetGalley I thought what a great way to see if this is one I would like to add to my collection or gift to someone.

‘Bella Loves Bugs’ is part of the Nature Heroes collection and is full of fun facts. Each book focuses on a different child and their passion for a different topic, such as birds or the planet even. We love to get sneaky learning in when we can right?! It is by author Jess French and Illustrator Duncan Beedie. Come be an entomologist!

Not only is the writing engaging the illustrations are perfect, down to a bug hair barrette for Bella. I loved that the beginning included safety tips for bug hunting, such as never touching their wings. Make sure to keep an eye out for Nancy the cute spider who tags along the whole way as the best little sidekick. It also had information on very basic equipment and where to best find certain bugs such as pond life and the ground, air, and flowers. It covers some basic metamorphosis and the different shapes and growth of bugs. We learn about what bugs build what, such as webs or other homes. We also find out what bugs come out at night and most importantly how you can do your part and protect both bugs and animals. I thought the page lengths were good and the illustrations and text would for sure hold both a child and adults attention. I think this would be a great gift, a great classroom book, or even perfect for after school or day care. I especially enjoyed and appreciated the emphasis on protecting Mother Nature.

Many thanks to Happy Yak an imprint of the Quarto Group Publishing for providing me with an eGalley/PDF copy of the book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This was published on April 19th, 2022. I know I will for sure be purchasing a copy for my collection. I can’t wait to read more books in this series.

Super cute and informative. Loved the illustrations and all the explaining. I’m not sold on the house spider chiming in. Overall a great educational book about bugs.

Bella Loves Bugs is jam-packed with information, but it's given in small doses and sidebars so young readers can pick and choose what to focus on. It's the type of book that youngsters will look at many times and use as a reference book. I learned several unknown facts, including that when slugs are scared, they can blow bubbles in their slime.

It encourages experiments and children will want to try many of the activities such as dipping a white tray into a pond or hanging a sheet and adding a light to see moths.

I appreciated how author Jess French included even "yucky" bugs such as woodlice and maggots, since they have important roles. I also appreciated the author pointing out that creatures shouldn't be caged for long, but released after they've been studied.

Illustrator Duncan Beedie chose pleasant colors, and I enjoyed the many details and the kid-friendly style.

I loved this book! As a childminder and parent, I really enjoyed the dual aspect of fiction and non fiction. The characters were friendly and brought the facts to life. The illustrations of the bugs were great and I know my children would use them to spot wildlife in the garden or out and about.

A fun informative read about bugs. We follow Bella along for the day we’re she discovers many different insects.
We learn about each of the ones we encounter something. There are even some tips and tricks, to help you if you want to trap and study the bugs yourself. There is also a spider that is coming along with us and she has always something to say.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Happy Yak for a free digital copy.

As someone who is not a fan of bugs, this book maybe made me appreciate them a bit more. And it's super informative while being fun for kids to learn about all types of bugs and safe ways to interact with them. I definitely recommend this book for any tiny budding scientist.

This is a cute story that would be great used in the primary classroom in a unit about insects. It is full of interesting information in an easy to understand format.

Bella Loves Bugs is a fiction book that has lots of great non-fiction information within. The story is about a little girl who enjoys studying bugs and throughout the story there are many opportunities for readers to learn about certain species of insects as well as what tools might be necessary if you want to study bugs yourself. At the end of the story there is information about how to be a "bug hero" but being kind and protecting bugs and other wildlife. The story is also set in "Forest School" which normalizes the idea that children can learn in different contexts other than the typical classroom with four walls.

The pictures are colourful and detailed and the text is divided into small chunks which makes it seem less daunting to young readers. There are also onomatopoeias and other fun words that are written in larger, bolded fonts throughout the pages. This book contains non-fiction text features such as diagrams, drawings, labels, text boxes and bolded vocabulary words. The only thing that is missing, in my opinion is a glossary or index. As a grade 3 teacher I could definitely see my students reading and enjoying this book. I would recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the 4-9 age range. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book!

What a fun, fact-filled book this is. Bella is a little girl who is very interested in bugs, and we go on an adventure with her to find lots and lots of bugs. There is a lot of interesting information and knowledge in the book, and amazing graphics. My daughter and I learned a lot from this book, so I highly recommend it!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.