A quartet of anthropomorphic invertebrates attempt to earn scout badges in the great outdoors.Lowery kicks off his graphic early chapter book series with a scout's oath: "All bugs are awesome / and that is a fact. / Raise your leg or antenna / and let's make a pact." Four "bug scouts" (two of whom are technically not bugs) introduce themselves; Josh the spider joins Abby the earthworm and Doug ("some kind of bug") in welcoming Luna the firefly to their troop. The group sets out on a nature walk in order to find an edible plant, and a series of outdoorsy teaching moments culminates in a narrow escape from a (seemingly!) friendly frog: "Come back! I want to eat you! I mean…meet you!" Along with lots of silly jokes and banter and plenty of frantic action, the book delivers a cogent warning about the hazards of eating or sometimes even touching anything unidentified in nature. However, Lowery uses the words toadstool-a term typically reserved for any type of mushroom that is poisonous and thus inedible-and mushroom interchangeably, which may prejudice impressionable young readers against the edible type. Furthermore, some of the natural history presented in the text is a bit dubious. The very simply drawn cartoon art and big lettering make this book appropriate and appealing for beginner and newly independent readers.An amusing, high-energy outing that teaches an important nature lesson. (Graphic early chapter book. 6-8)

In this five-chapter comic for early readers, Lowery (I Don-t Want to Read This Book) introduces the Bug Scouts: -some kind of bug- Doug, worm Abby, grumpy spider Josh (-I just come for the free snacks-), and newbie Luna, a lightning bug. From their -super-duper secret headquarters,- the group embarks on a hike to earn one of 238 possible bug badges, this one for gathering plants to make into paint. They soon encounter a frog who, despite protestations to the contrary, clearly intends to eat them (it carries a knife, fork, salt, pepper, and a book entitled 101 Delicious Bug Recipes). But Josh, despite being generally badge-averse, inadvertently saves the day: the web hammock spun by the spider for a nap traps the frog, and the rarest item on the Scouts- foraging list turns out to be the very one Josh used to deflect the frog-s tongue. With swarms of goofy jokes and adorable characters, the brief chapters fly by. Readers will most certainly be willing to affirm the first line of the Official Bug Scout Oath: -All bugs are awesome and that is a fact.- Ages 7-10. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Apr.)-