John W. Guyton

Bug Lab for Kids by John W Guyton is a basic introduction to entomology, or the study of bugs, geared towards teaching kids. It's not just a book of information, but is packed with information related to all aspects of bug collecting. Several units focus on creating appropriate tools, such as a net, spreading boards, and kill jars. Then follows several units devoted to different orders, such as Lepidoptera, or butterfly, and Coleoptera, or nettles. Each of these has its own set of experiments and/or tasks. Later units discuss other types of arthropods. I even learned a few new things myself! I had no idea pillbugs were not bugs but land crustaceans.

Some of these experiments seemed a bit sadistic, though. Really, we wouldn't be encouraging kids to cut off mice tails, or to throw kittens in an alligator pen, so why encourage them to cut the halteres off of flies or throw moths into spider webs. Humane collecting I do not have an issue with, but those kinds of 'experiments’ I'm against. Thankfully, while many of our cubs were interested in learning about insects, they came to the same conclusions over some of these experiments that Jonas and I did. Recommended for those interested in bugs.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.… (mere)