BIG SURPRISE IN THE BUG TANK
by Ruth Horowitz & illustrated by Joan Holub
The built-in “Ewwww!” factor will draw new readers like ants to a picnic in this follow-up to Breakout at the Bug Lab (2001). Brothers Leo and the never-named narrator bring home a pair of giant hissing cockroaches chosen from the stock at their entomologist mother’s lab—then look ahead to a scary future when two unexpectedly become eight. Uh-oh. After unsuccessful (go figure) efforts to sell or give away the extra little cuties, the sibs at last uncover a crucial bit of information—how to tell males from females—that helps them put a stop to the incipient population explosion without resorting to extermination. Arranged in easy chapters, replete with tips on pet bug care, and illustrated with small cartoon scenes featuring smiling, thumb-sized insects with appealingly googly eyes, this should please children who wax buggy over the likes of Megan McDonald’s Insects Are My Life! (1995). (Picture book. 5-7)