Grub by Sandra Severgnini

Grub is eating and eating. He is getting bigger and bigger. He knows that a change is about to happen, and wants to know what he will become. He asks a variety of insects that pass him on the floor the forest. A ladybird, cicada, dragonfly amongst others all describe what they were before their current manifestation, so making the reader more curious about Grub.

Gently humorous, each new meeting ends with the repeated lone, ‘so he ate and he ate, and he grew and he grew’.

The background of the forest floor will captivate young readers as they recognise plants and growth amongst the fallen logs and branches. Each insect is given its correct name and the descriptive words coincide with the insect in question. So readers will learn that a dragonfly lives in water as larva, while a cicada was a nymph, a butterfly a caterpillar and the ladybird a small insect with similar markings. Each new page gives a greater understanding of the insect world and the changes that occur when they emerge as adults. Children will be mesmerised by the information put in this book, and use it as a springboard to seek out further facts. They will gasp in awe at what Grub becomes and be fascinated by the fact sheet at the end of the book.

The detailed illustrations of the forest floor invite the reader to take a closer look, while the glorious endpapers show the juvenile stages at the start and the adult stages on the last end pages. Each invites the readers to spot the ones they know and ask questions, using the pages as a quiz, to share their knowledge with their friends.

A stunning addition to the non fiction world for younger readers.

Themes: Insects, Change, Non fiction, Forests, Humour.

Fran Knight