I really wanted to push myself to read more nonfiction, and I am so glad I read this one. I did not think how impactful such little creatures could be, and how grateful we need to be for them. The narrative was well written and supported with lots of evidence. It is clearly a topic that the author knows a lot about. I learned so much about a variety of insects that I did not know about, and I found myself sharing these facts with my family as I read it.

If you are interested in bugs, the environment, or just want a fun nonfiction read I would recommend this one for sure! ( )

Tons of interesting facts. Great cocktail party trivia if you can get it to stick, but I wasn’t really drawn in. ( )

Excellent little book. Easy to read journey through the world of insects; their interesting and unusual characteristics.
A lot of emphasis on the changes in their lives and habits brought about as a result of changes due to human presence.
These little creatures are vital for human existence in many ways, so we need to husband them well.

The subtitle pretty much says it all. Chapters include insect anatomy, sex, the food chain, symbiosis between insects and plants, insects and human food, insects as “janitors”, industries, and more.

I found this really Interesting, but I’m afraid I won’t remember much. There were so many little tidbits of information, it will be hard to remember. I have heard it before, but even if they are pests, insects really are beneficial, and humans would be hard-pressed to live on a planet without them. ( )

Either something was lost in translation, or this book is a much better fit for middle grade readers. Given the excellent english of absolutely everybody I’ve ever met from Norway (and I worked for a Norwegian company for years), I’m going with this is a great Middle grade read.

Extraordinary Insects is a brief introduction to most of the broad families of Insects, written by an enthusiastic scientist who obviously loves her work. It’s a fun book, engagingly written, but at a level that would appeal to strong readers in the, say, 10-13 year old range. That’s not an insult to this book in the slightest, but those who are looking for a deeper overview of the insect world and their importance on Earth (life as we know it can’t exist without insects, but nothing but the rats and cockroaches would even notice our absence), might find this book a little frustrating for its lack of depth, and its very enthusiastic tone. It’s a good book, but I kept thinking it would be a better fit for my niece (who just turned 11).

A great book for a budding young insect enthusiast or for anyone who has avoided ‘bugs’ but would like to dip a toe into learning more about them. ( )