Night Flyers: Moths in Your Backyard(Backyard Bugs)

Describes the physical characteristics, life cycle, and behavior of moths. Includes anatomy diagram and activity.

About the Author :
Nancy Loewen writes fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults. Recent awards include: 2012 Minnesota Book Awards finalist (The LAST Day of Kindergarten); 2011 Bank Street's Best Children's Books of the Year (Share a Scare: Writing Your Own Scary Story); 2011 Book of Note, Tri-State Young Adult Review Committee (Stubborn as a Mule and Other Silly Similes); and 2010 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers (Writer's Toolbox Series). She's also received awards from The American Library Association, the New York Public Library, the Independent Book Publishers Association, and the Society of School Librarians International. Nancy holds an MFA in creative writing from Hamline University, St. Paul. She lives in the Twin Cities with her husband and two teenage children.

Review :
Author Nancy Loewen and illustrator Brandon Reibeling have delivered a stunning collection of Backyard Bugs books for primary readers. Like all the books in this series, Tiny Workers: Ants in Your Backyard is beautifully written and full of kid-friendly information. Each book offers a festival of color merged with text that can be independently navigated by second and third grade readers or enjoyed as a read-aloud by younger students. These books brim with charmingly crafted sentences that beckon readers: Ants live in a-mazing little homes where the dirt is like the door to their house. Although each book in the collection stands admirably on its own, my second-graders were lucky enough to have all six volumes to review. We shared the books together, and then each child chose one book to study thoroughly and become our expert on that insect. While reading, we all noted the same engaging features. First, the pictures, shich are huge, scientifically accurate, and often drawn from a surprising point of view. These illustrations had children clamoring to gaze into compound eyes or between palpi. Second, additional and unconventional information is featured in magnifying glasses on each page and at the end of the book. These facts made every one of us (including me) say, Hey, I never knew that! The well-organized table of contents, index, and glossary provide the opportunity to teach the children how to use these text supports, and simple extension activities invite them to revisit ideas from the books. I've been studying insects with my students for years, but I have never seen a collection of books that I liked as much as this one. More importantly, these books are also endorsed by the most discriminating critics of all: the kids!-- "NSTA Recommends" Short paragraphs of large, bold print briefly describe several outstanding physical and behavioral characteristics of honeybees and moths. An insert in the shape of a magnifying glass offers additional facts- in small print- on most of the spreads. The simple texts are clearly written, for the most part, and most of the facts provided are locially organized. Exceptions, however, occur in Night Fliers. For instance, the sentence on the first page that reads, Moths are like butterflies of the night may confuse children who are as yet unfamiliar with either insect- the page comparing the two doesn't appear until the end of the book. A later section discussing some moths' feeding habits is oversimplified. The stylized, digitally prepared illustrations in these introductions have definite child appeal. Strong, clean lines define the basic shapes of the insects as well as the flowers upon which they depend, and all of the spreads are suffused with color-muted shades in the backgrounds and mostly primary colors in front. The appendixes focus on a particular aspect of the featured insect and include more miscellaneous facts plus a suggested activity. Joyce Milton's Honeybees (Grosset & Dunlap, 2003), aimed at about the same age level as Busy Buzzers, offers more inforation on anatomy, behavior, and life cycle and has more realistic illustrations. Linda Glaser's Brilliant Bees (Millbrook, 2003), which also covers the same material, provides a bit more information on hive building and honey making and contains realistic, close-up drawings of the bees.-- "School Library Journal"