| Summary: | McDonald, Megan. Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs! Illustrated by Jane Manning. Greenwillow Books, 2005. ISBN 0060013559. $15.99. 32 pp. Reviewer: Emily Hreha Reading Level: Preschool, Primary Rating: Excellent; Genre: Humorous stories; Subject: Food--Juvenile fiction; Insects--Juvenile fiction; Courage--Juvenile fiction; Books--Reviews; Mexican stinkbug salsa? Cricket pizza, from Brazil? McDonald’s book follows the adventures of Beetle as she becomes a real explorer and a true pioneer. Beetle longs to emulate her heroes and her chance to prove herself comes during Fun with Food Week in Mr. Rigley's science class. Beetle boasts that she would "eat an ant in a second," and when she is dared at recess to prove it, the wriggling ant is too much for Beetle to swallow. Defeated, Beetle fears she will never live up to her dream. A visit from Chef Suzanne and her Chinese chop-suey ants happily provides Beetle a second chance to feast on some unique cuisine and fulfill her dream! McDonald, best known for the Judy Moody books, uses a variety of words like crunch that make reading the book aloud fun for all involved. Although Beetle is a girl, the bug theme is sure to catch the interest of boys. Manning's water color illustrations are bright and Beetle's facial expressions vividly tell the pre-literate reader about Beetle's character. Manning's use of color allows the reader a peek into Beetle's psyche. One highlight of the book is following the travels of an illustrated ant from "ANTarctica" on the bottom pages of the book. McDonald's Beetle McGrady is a fun character and reading about her ant adventures is entertaining reading for the whole family. 32 pp. Children's Book and Play Review, October 2005
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