Sophia Spencer

When Sophia was little, she loved bugs. Once she got to school, the other kids made fun of her and hurt the grasshopper she brought to class. To cheer her up, her mom suggests she write to some bug scientists, and she gets lots and lots of responses from all kinds of bug scientists telling her not to give up on bugs.

This true story was fine but kind of lost the plot in a kid-telling-a-story way. Seems to be more about the adults than the kid. Having a bunch of strange adults telling her on social media (a thing she is legally not allowed to use) that bugs are cool does not actually help her with her peer problem. What does help, in the end, is developing some other interests in addition to bugs, but the book presents that as a thing that just happened, not a conscious decision or a sign of maturity.… (more)

This book shares an important message about how it is okay to love bugs. Children naturally are interested in bugs when young but slowly loose that interest as they get older. That "EWWW" and "gross" response begins to replace the early fascination. I love that this book encourages children to stay interested but, specifically, that girls can be interested into bugs too (and science)! More broadly, this book is a story that shows how it is important to be yourself, a message that never gets old, and to not let the interests of your peers change your passions.

The illustrations are beautiful and detailed.

This is a perfect book to share with school-aged children.

Thanks to LibraryThing Early Reviewers and Tundra Books for the review copy of this book.… (more)