The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

McKelvey, Douglas Kaine

Locust Pocus!: A Book to Bug You

32 pp. | Philomel | June, 2001 | Trade ISBN 0-399-23452-7 $$15.99

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Richard Egielski. Vacillating between doggerel and verse, most of these twenty-six humorous rhymes describe either an insect's trait ("Roaches roam / among the dishes, / inconspicuous / (be suspicious!)") or physical characteristic ("Pallid pill bugs / curl their shells, / when outside's out / then inside's well"). The subject, strong alliteration, and patterned rhyme will appeal to kids, but many of the illustrations overwhelm the slight text.

Reviewer: Betty Carter