ALA Booklist (Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

This companion book to What's Your Favorite Animal? (2014) and What's Your Favorite Color? (2017) features words and pictures by 15 accomplished illustrators, each introducing a favorite bug on a large double-page spread. As long as a paragraph or as short as a sentence, the accompanying prose or verse text might include fascinating facts, vivid memories, or true confessions about insects, such as Carle's "To tell you the truth, I have not always cared for caterpillars," followed by the origin story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969). Featuring wonderfully varied and often striking images, the next 14 spreads display the work of Denise Fleming, Teagan White, Beth Krommes, Maggie Rudy, Scott Magoon, Molly Idle, Ekua Holmes, Tim Hopgood, Kenard Pak, Brendan Wenzel, Britta Teckentrup, Eric Fan, Eugene Yelchin, and Joey Chou, who bring their own varied styles, media, and viewpoints to the theme. The closing pages include a paragraph introducing each artist along with a childhood photo. Royalties will be donated to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. A handsome volume.

Horn Book

In the fourth Detective Gordon entry, toad Gordon's protigi Buffy realizes that she doesn't know the fate of her mouse family she was separated from when coming to the forest. The detectives set off on an urgent mission, solve the case, and reunite Buffy with her family. The adventure moves along briskly, but deeper issues permeate the story. The future is bright both for the forest police and for readers hoping for another installment.

School Library Journal (Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

PreS-Gr 2 In this companion to What's Your Favorite Animal? and What's Your Favorite Color? , 14 children's book illustrators join Carle in revealing their favorite insects. Using different media and artistic styles, along with poems, anecdotes, or brief information about the merits of their creature, each contributor presents his or her choice on a spread. The insects are striking, and most appear stretched across the pages. Carle, who humorously depicts himself with a caterpillar head complete with antennae and huge eyes above his bushy white beard, begins. He loves caterpillars because The Very Hungry Caterpillar has made fans the world over. Six adorable bees dance and sway atop huge flowers as Molly Idle describes the "boogie-woogie wiggle" and "buzzing ballet" they use to lead their companions to the best blossoms. A worker bee, Eric Fan's favorite, stands upright carrying a briefcase and sporting a bowler. Three incredibly patterned peacock spiders crawl across Brendan Wenzel's pages. Back matter provides brief biographies accompanied by childhood photos for all the illustrators: Denise Fleming, Teagan White, Beth Krommes, Scott Magoon, Ekua Holmes, Tim Hopgood, Kenard Pak, Britta Teckentrup, Eugene Yelchin, and Joey Chou. VERDICT Eye-catching larger-than-life illustrations and interesting information that might spark further investigation into the insect world make this an excellent choice for all libraries. Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA