One afternoon an unassuming fly is sucked into the dark belly of a vacuum cleaner, where he dramatically experiences the five stages of grief. Each emotion serves as a mini-act in the fly's story as he tries to come to grips with his situation. Starting with denial, he tries convincing himself it's all a bad dream. Stage 2 (bargaining) sees him point toward a spider he has crafted out of debris, claiming, "Obviously, I wouldn't hurt a fly. There's the insect you want." Anger erupts in stage 3, before giving way to tears of despair in stage 4. Finally, stage 5 (acceptance) arrives with due resignation. But when the vacuum gets hauled outside, could hope enter the picture? While the fly's rationale is funny (and punny), Watt's mixed-media illustrations steal the show, hilariously depicting the bug's reactions and creative use of his dusty environment. Young readers may not get the joke at large d some may be deterred by the book's length t most will be delighted by the story's sheer absurdity.

A fly's life is "changed with the switch of a button" when it gets vacuumed up. Stuck inside the dust bag, it experiences all five stages of grief before being set free. Dense with visual gags and callbacks, the book's accessible conceptual underpinnings and cartoonishly expressive protagonist make it both funny and suspenseful. Rich in clever detail, this will reward multiple reads.

K-Gr 3 A little bug is on top of the world (literally sitting on a globe), when tragedy strikes. His world goes dark as he gets sucked into a vacuum. Bug goes through the Kübler-Ross stages of grief with dramatic humor. At the same time, the household peta dogloses its knitted toy buddy to the same vacuum. Dog also experiences a canine version of the same five stages, before all's well that ends well. The double-page artwork cleverly illustrates these traumatic events with a muted palette and cute, cartoony characters. Much of the humor is tongue-in-cheek. There is plenty of detail in the illustrations that will evoke adult chuckles and encourage children to look closer. VERDICT The award-winning author of the " Scaredy Squirrel" series (Kids Can) is back with an equally engaging, if a bit more sophisticated, picture book to delight audiences. Mindy Whipple, West Jordan Library, UT