Insectlopedia

Douglas, Florian. 1998. INSECTLOPEDIA. Ill. by Douglas Florian. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace & Company.
ISBN 0152013067

*Plot Summary

Douglas Florian’s collection of short poems focuses on the lives, habits, shapes, and peculiarities of bugs. The subjects include the hornet, the black widow spider, and the caterpillar to name a few. Each poem and creature is represented by a painting also created by Florian. Although each of the poems represents a different insect, the feelings stirred by the poetry vary throughout the collection.

*Critical Analysis

Douglas Florian’s poetry collection INSECTLOPEDIA begins with a table of contents naming all the bugs which inspired the poems. Variety in tone, style, and voice keeps the collection interesting, and each of Florian’s poems is accompanied by one of his paintings. Although the poems themselves may be unfamiliar to most students, the subject matter gives the poetry ease and accessibility. The subject matter of the collection adds to the universal appeal or interest in the poems. Since insects are a source of intrigue or disgust for many children, the poems also have a sense of timelessness.

Douglas Florian’s great imagination is evident in his use of poetic elements like personification and imagery. For example, in his poem “The Crickets” Florian says the crickets “fiddle and sing” and “never will charge you a fee.” Likewise, other poetic elements like consonance and alliteration appear in “The Daddy Longlegs.” The speaker wonders if daddy longlegs “drink milk” or “chew on cheese.” Florian also employs word play as he describes the daddy longlegs’s exercise as “spiderobic.” This resembles the name of the collection – INSECTLOPEDIA. Poetic elements like these make the collection interesting and fun to read.

Also adding to the potential for fun recitation or reading aloud is the rhythm Florian has created in many of his poems. “The Daddy Longlegs” and “The Dragonfly” beg to be read and enjoyed orally. Another strength of this poetry collection is the variety of personas conjured throughout the book. At the conclusion of “The Dragonfly,” the speaker who is the insect itself demands “I am the dragon: / Down on your knees!” Meanwhile, the less demanding daddy longlegs are the target for many questions from a curious speaker in “The Daddy Longlegs.” Changes in tone, style, and persona throughout the collection keep readers interested and make each poem a separate work despite the common insect theme.

Visually, the collection is interesting and exciting. Florian’s paintings are colorful and simple. Instead of distracting readers from the poems themselves, they add to the imagery and give interesting details to discover. For example, in Florian’s depiction of the dragonfly, a dragon is reflected in the eyes of the insect. In addition to the illustrations adding to the visual elements, the formatting and spacing of the poems also add interest to the collection in poems like “The Army Ants” and “The Dragonfly.” Two concrete poems included in the book, “The Inchworm” and “The Whirligig Beetles,” add to the appeal and visual interest. Florian’s combination of poetic language and folk art paintings make the collection easy to enjoy.

*Personal/Student Response

Despite my apprehension of taking on poetry in my first few months of librarianship, I had a great time sharing many of the poems in this collection. Because the poems are light-hearted and have easy rhyme and rhythm, I felt comfortable and excited to read them to the second grade classes at my school. The children were a great audience and had fun listening and studying the illustrations. In almost every class, I heard pleas to read all the poems, and the children have been requesting this book for check out since I shared it with them.

As usual, the kids noticed details from the illustrations that I had previously failed to recognize. They spotted the dragons reflected in the dragonfly’s eyes, the daddy longlegs lifting barbells, and the wind up key on one of the whirligig beetles. I hope to revisit these poems and use them for choral reading later in the year.

*Review Excerpts

“There are other books of poetry about insects and lots of collections of humorous verses about animals but none match Insectlopedia.”
School Library Journal

“The clever artwork, deftly constructed, and the entertaining collection of insect and arachnid verse it illustrates will delight readers.”
BookList *Starred Review*

*Connections

-Choose a poem to use a story starter. (For example, write a story from the perspective of the dragonfly.)
-Research one of the creatures in the collection.
-Create new insect poems to add to Florian’s book.
-Write a response poem. (For example, write a poem with the daddy longlegs as the speaker answering questions posed in “The Daddy Longlegs.”)
-Engage small groups or the whole class in choral reading of selected poems.
-Use poems to add literature to a science lesson.