Reviews: A Creepy Crawly Songbook

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   I enjoyed this book because it had really fun songs about insects. The songs varied in content as well. Some were silly, such as "Uurgh, Eeegh, Ugh", and others were actually informative about the actual insect. The book includes the notation, creatively drawn pictures, and short poems about the insects mentioned in the songs.

   I would reccommend this book for elementary school teachers because some of the songs can be modified for younger grades and there are some tougher songs for the upper grades. However there were a few songs I would not sing to children because they were either too long or were a little gross. The song about lice was a little odd, and I am not sure if kids would want to sing about lice in their hair! "Itchy Scratchy, scratch my head, the lice have put their kids to bed in my crown of golden hair.. it's not fair." Aside from this song, the book as whole is one worth using in the classroom.

By Cynthia Locke (teacher)

This review first appeared in The Horn Book in 1994.

   Seventeen fresh, original melodies accompanied by droll lyrics and exuberant drawings that fill the pages with color and crawling insects mark this irrepressible song book. A black widow spider laments the shortage of available mates, forgetting she "ate every one"; a praying mantis confesses to worldly appetites: in a tender, lilting melody a can full of gullible worms disappear one by one onto the fisherman's hook. The refrain in "Busy Bee" with its last two lines, "Busy in the beehive and busy in the trees, / Busy feeding future busy, busy, busy bees," is hypnotically irresistible. The rhythms range from marches to waltzes and polkas. There is even a round for three voices about a green and slimy slug.

   Kitamura's artwork, from its decorative endpapers to the drawings of insects and lush greenery that crawl up and down the pages, adds its own happy chaos to the mix. A must for music classes, family singalongs, and general all-purpose revelry.

By Nancy Vasilakis
Review Grade: A