cover image Big Bug, Little Bug: A Book of Opposites

Big Bug, Little Bug: A Book of Opposites

Paul Stickland, Scholastic/Cartwheel, $12.99 (16p) ISBN 978-0-545-25380-2

Stickland compares and contrasts friendly cartoon bugs that feel a bit like two-dimensional, less developed versions of the characters in the film A Bug's Life. Single-word antonyms and phrases appear in playful, black font: on a hot pink spread, one pill bug ("hard bug") pushes another one that's rolled into a ball, opposite a "soft bug," a cross between a caterpillar and a slug. Some bugs "wriggle by day," and some "fly by night," but in the end they appear together in a dramatic pop-up. Energetic colors and bold, bright shapes should hit the spot for the preschool crowd. Ages 2–4. (Jan.)