BURT THE BEETLE LIVES HERE!

Burt checks out all the places other insects can live, but none seems quite right for a June bug.

Can a ten-lined June beetle with sticky arms and a fondness for hugs find a comfy home? Alas, as our hero discovers in this follow-up to Burt the Beetle Doesn’t Bite! (2021), not in the tunnels of yellow meadow ants or in the nests of cathedral termites, not in human houses like stink bugs or in a spittlebug’s shelter (“I made this with my bum! Want a tour?”), nor with bees or wasps or tent caterpillars. Spires sandwiches this informative look at where and in what insects live between cartoonish galleries of real estate–style listings trumpeting a beehive’s “quality craftsmanship,” the “charming layout” of a wasp nest, the “open floor plan” of a flea’s furry backside domicile, and so on, then closes with pages of additional facts about select insect builders. She doesn’t leave her six-legged house hunter unprotected from predators and the elements either, as a simple leaf turns out to be not only excellent shelter for one…but big enough to fit an entire coterie of chance met new friends of diverse species: “GROUP HUG!” “Bring it in, everybody!” Whether a massive network of tunnels or a single leaf, that’s one good way to make a house a home.

A wide-ranging survey of insect homes delivered with humor and heart.