BEETLE
by David Hawcock & illustrated by Lee Montgomery
Beetle ($6.99; April 1, 1996; 8 pp.; 0-679-87566-2): This entry in the Bouncing Bugs series (other titles include Fly, ISBN 0-679- 87567-0, and Wasp, -87565-4) has pop-ups, foldout pages, and snippets of information aimed at budding entomologists about what the title insect eats, what its parts are called, etc. Too creepy for preschoolers but ideal for lower elementary children is the last spread, which, when the book covers are folded back and looped together with a covered elastic string, pops into a huge, realistically detailed bug, easily seen by the back rows. (Nonfiction. 4-8)