ALA Booklist (Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2021)

Burt is a lovable, 10-lined June beetle who is proud to star in this book about backyard bugs and denies having any resemblance to a tiny watermelon (he's a dead ringer). His physical features are briefly highlighted before the text turns to other bugs' superpower-like abilities, such as ants' impressive strength and termites' paralyzing venom. Burt offers entertaining commentary, but the real comedy is found in the exchanges between Burt and the book's unseen narrator, who insists that June beetles don't have any super abilities. Burt sets off to prove otherwise, finally finding his time to shine at a dangerous spiderweb. Beginning readers are in for a treat with this silly offering, which immediately brings to mind Elise Gravel's Disgusting Critters series. Thick black lines and muted retro colors contrast well with the simple backdrops, and readers can easily sift the facts from the fiction, with invented dialogue always appearing in characters' speech balloons and basic facts contained in gold bands on the tops or bottoms of panels. Fun, funny, and factual ll, sort of.

Horn Book (Thu Oct 03 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Burt, an affable ten-lined June beetle (aka watermelon beetle), stars in this graphic novel/information book hybrid. Spires's easy-to-decode text and cartoon art relates how Burt finds his purpose, while delivering a few facts about June beetles, some other insects, and spiders along the way. An off-stage narrator emphasizes what June beetles can't do -- climb walls, move quickly, fly effectively -- while sharing other creatures' "superpowers" (ants: strength, some termites: "paralyzing venom"). Burt starts to believe the narrator's negative talk until his own attributes (heaviness, stickiness) and hugging skills save the day. A final spread offers a few "Super Facts" about six insects. Funny and informative.

Kirkus Reviews

"I'm more of a hugger," says the eponymous six-legged guide through the world of insect powers and superpowers.Ants can carry 50 times their weight; hawk moths emit ultrasonic blasts to confuse predatory bats; nasute termites spray paralyzing venom; and stink bugs-well, "Super gross. But also super cool." But June beetles…can't do those things. Nor, as Burt the 10-lined June beetle unwillingly proves, can they run fast, fly very well, or even tap dance. They do have sticky legs, for what it's worth-which is, it turns out, quite a lot when the only way to rescue friends from a spider's web of "sticky bum strings" is to hug the spider and hold on. "What…is…happening?" gasps the arrested arachnid, all eight legs dangling limply as a beatific Burt clasps it tight-then: "Oh, crumbs." Following a final group clinch, a closing gallery adds even more insect facts and friends. In the wake of Fairy Science (2019), Spires here flits to a different area of STEM for another playful but informative gander at the natural world that likewise artfully stirs a light load of fact into a mix of cartoon-style illustrations and banter. Along with effortlessly absorbing the former while enjoying the latter, readers may well find it easy to embrace the wonders that the insect world presents to anyone willing to take a closer look. (This book was reviewed digitally.)Proof that courage and loyalty are superpowers too…even for species that can't emit ultrasonic blasts. (Graphic nonfiction. 6-9)

School Library Journal (Mon Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2021)

PreS-Gr 3 Insect facts, humor, and a wise-cracking beetle come together in this graphic novel. Captioned panels introduce a handful of remarkable insects. Burt the Beetle observes and wishes that he had special abilities of his own. After watching a stink bug in action, he comments: "Wow! Super gross. But also super cool." Burt can't do much more than fly or crawl. Illustrations show him losing a race to a snail, crashing when he attempts to fly, and repeatedly winding up on his back and asking, "Little help?" When his more talented friends all end up caught in a spider's web, however, Burt uses his sticky legs to hug the spider, preventing the predator from eating his pals, and then takes the web apart by crashing into it with his heavy body. Humorous cartoon artwork and effective panel layouts contribute greatly to the humorous tone. Burt's subtly varied facial expressions are endearing. Though Spires combines information, such as the strength of ants, with fictional elements, the lighthearted tone makes it all work without being too confusing to young readers. VERDICT An engaging fact and fiction mix with an appealing beetle protagonist. As with Doreen Cronin's "Diary" books and Elise Gravel's "Disgusting Critters" series, most young readers will have no trouble digesting the facts while also enjoying the humor and the story. Steven Engelfried, Wilsonville P.L., OR