ALA Booklist (Tue Jan 03 00:00:00 CST 2023)

This book in the Science Solves It series packs a big punch despite a slight story. Riley has a problem: mosquitoes love him, and he's tired of it. His friends think it's funny, but they don't have to cope with itchy bites and annoying buzzing. And he can't figure out why the pests bother him and pass his buddies by. His mother won't allow him to use chemical sprays, and a natural remedy doesn't work (cats follow him home!), so he goes to the Internet to find out more, and he visits his friend's uncle, an entomologist, who gives the best advice of all. Sims' lively cartoon sketches, washed in a rainbow of colors, are funny and filled with expression, and Knudsen provides lots of facts in boxes scattered across the pages. In addition to all the surprising, useful bug facts, there's a good lesson in problem solving.

Horn Book (Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2012)

These last volumes in the series about twenty-six classmates and their various issues and adventures continue to be overly packed with words that include the feature letter. Forced vocabulary choices make for a distracting reading experience, but letter-sound overkill may possibly have some positive effect on students' phonemic awareness. Tangential animal facts and phonics activities are appended.

School Library Journal (Tue Jan 03 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Gr 1-3 Riley is the only one in his group of friends who is constantly being bitten by mosquitoes, and he sets out to discover why. After a lot of research as well as some experimentation, Riley solves the mystery. It turns out that mosquitoes are attracted to the smell of Limburger cheese, which resembles the odor of his stinky sneakers. Clear and simple sentences, colorful realistic illustrations, and diverse characters all contribute to this appealing easy reader. Sidebars full of mosquito facts clutter up the layout, but are worth it because of the amount of interesting information they contain. Riley's activities serve as a great model of the research process as well as the scientific method. He visits the library and uses books, he goes online, and he has an interview with a "bug expert" at the local college, and then he tests out his ideas before coming to a conclusion. The facts are delivered with humor, making for a thoroughly enjoyable read. "Think Like a Scientist" activities round out this appealing title. Amy Rowland, Guggenheim Elementary School, Port Washington, NY