Review by Booklist Review
Kids who prefer their books on the squirm-inducing side will love sinking their teeth into this installment in the Awful, Disgusting Parasites series, part of the new high/low imprint Bolt. Here readers will learn about the bedbug in four concise chapters, packed with crisp, close-up photos and simple, cleanly integrated infographics. The first chapter introduces this hitchhiking bloodsucker and its nocturnal feeding regimen, including a labeled diagram of the pest. Though the text states that a bedbug is roughly the size of an apple seed, an actual-size illustration would have been useful. Subsequent chapters outline this parasite's life cycle, its pervasiveness (depicted on a world map), and general information about bites and bedbug prevention. A light but solid overview that doesn't sacrifice factual content for gross-out appeal.--Smith, Julia Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-Plenty of facts and photographs support the "awful, disgusting" promise of the series title. There's also solid, though sometimes scattered, information about how these creatures live and interact with humans. Each beginning describes an unsuspecting human who crosses paths with a parasite, leading into a discussion of the creature and its potential effect on people and animals. At times, the presentation could be more thorough. In Tapeworms, for example, readers learn that "50,000 people die from tapeworms each year" but nothing on how or why those deaths happen. Photographs are appropriately gross and generally informative and feature several excellent magnified close-up views, specifically in Bedbugs, Ticks, and Head Lice. Useful features include a "By the Numbers" statistics section, a range map, and a life cycle flow chart. VERDICT Readers needing more physiological detail may be disappointed, but these selections work well as introductions to parasites. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
