Title: Crickwing
Author: Janell Cannon
Major Themes: Insects
Synopsis: An injured cockroach takes his anger at life out on his neighbors, the leafcutter ants.
This year for science, we are using Exploring Creation With Zoology I: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. We’ve studied birds, bats, and flying reptiles, and are now studying insects. In the student book, there is a list of suggested books to go along with the textbook, and I got several from the library. I told our 3-year-old that they are his science! Crickwing is one of them.
I don’t normally have books like this in the house. We generally stick to realistic books. Crickwing is a fun one, though. Crickwing is a cockroach that lives in the rain forest. He has a crooked wing as a result of an attack on his life. Because he is different, life is very difficult for him and he ends up angry. He takes his anger out on the leafcutter ants, and they capture him. What happens next?
I don’t know how many times I’ve read Crickwing to my 3-year-old! He loves it. The baby loves the bright colors of the pictures, too. I like the vocabulary that is introduced, for example, exoskeleton. I have enjoyed it, but I think I’ll be glad when it goes back to the library!
WARNING: Besides the fact of Crickwing being quite unkind (and being a talking animal), there are a couple of words you might want to change—twerp, dastardly, no-gooder, big oaf. Definitely not a book I would buy, but I don’t mind checking it out for a short time.
Age levels:
Listening Level—Ages 3 – 4, 5 – 8
Reading Independently—Ages 7 – 9
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Library Binding | Audio CD (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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