The Bugliest Bug

Title: The Bugliest Bug
Author: Carol Diggory Shields
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication Date: 2002
Illustrator: Scott Nash
Genre Designation: Children’s rhyming
Readability Lexile: K-2 (ages 5-8)

Summary:
The Bugliest Bug by Carol Diggory Shields is a story about a bug who wasn’t sure if she had what it would take to win the big contest of the, “Bugliest Bug.”  Damselfly Dilly didn’t think that she would win the contest because she wasn’t clever or frilly, but she still wanted to see who would be the Bugliest Bug of all.  All of the bugs came out for the contest showing the judges why they thought they should win this great title.  After watching all the bugs Damselfly Dilly started to see what the judges were really looking for, their lunch!  Damselfly Dilly was a quick thinker and devised a plan to save the day along with all the bugs, but will this show Damselfly Dilly that she really does have what it takes to be the Bugliest Bug after all?

Evaluation:
The Bugliest Bug by Carol Diggory Shields is a good story because it allows for the use of onomatopoeia throughout the entire story, and keeps to a great beat when read aloud which makes that more fun for the reader.  The author also does a great job of blending in the use of rhyming throughout the story as well, which goes back to the great beat that is built into the story and can be capitalized upon when reading the story aloud or in ones head.  As the reader we think we are going on a happy go lucky journey through a bug contest, however we begin to see some foreshadowing and see that the story takes a drastic turn.  Once this happens we as the reader begin to see how our main character Damselfly Dilly needs to be a problem solver, and courageous to help her friends.  Watching Damselfly Dilly help all of her bug friends shows her character growth from the beginning when she thought that she could only be a bystander of the competition, almost as if she was not “good enough” to be in it.  I believe that the author was trying to tell us that we are so much more than what we look like on our outsides, and that in some of the most important times of our lives it is what we have on our insides that will really matter.  This is a theme that no matter how old we are, we could always use a reminder on. 

Illustrations:
I enjoyed the illustrations, they were both vibrant yet showed a somewhat realistic view of the bugs within the story.  At times however, I felt the pages were a bit overwhelmed with the amount of different bugs and other pictures within the illustrations on the page and found myself wondering if a young reader could become distracted and overwhelmed by these full pages.  If a reader is having a tough time sounding out the words, and then is distracted by the overwhelming pictures it may be a book that they close rather quickly instead of using a different reading strategy like picture clues. 

Mini-Lesson:
If our class were learning about bugs while reading this story, we could use this book as a read aloud and then allow the students to pick a bug from within the story to perform a “google search” on while in pairs.  Once the groups have “googled” their bug and found 4 super cool facts they get to pick a way to share their info with our class.  This could be done by making a poster about the 4 facts, using one of the pre-made cardboard cubes to make an info box, or a mobile (something that the students have had practice with).  The student work will then be presented to the class and then hung up.