Bothered by Bugs by Emily Gravett

If your class are talking about the balance of nature - the role of every tiny creature in an ecosystem - this book is simply perfect. 

Publisher blurb: Pete the Badger is choosing a delicious recipe from his new fruit cookbook when his peace is interrupted by a teeny tiny fly. The fly becomes a swarm and soon all the animals are being bothered by bugs and insects of all kinds . . . before helping Pete to rid the forest of every single one. Disaster! Now nobody's around to clean up the poo, and come autumn, there's not a berry or a cherry to be found. But the lesson is learned, the bugs are released, and order is restored to the forest once again.

Infused with humour, this superb picture book carries an important message about the natural world. Wonderful to read aloud, the witty, rhyming text provides rhythm and pace. Children will adore exploring the exquisitely detailed illustrations, particularly a sumptuous picnic on the final pages, which is crammed with delectable cakes, tarts, and summer puddings. Book Trust

Here is one of the irresistible illustrations:

Here are two another books by Emily Gravett featuring the same woodland animals:

The topic of eliminating one part of the natural food chain and how this can be catastrophic is beautifully explained in this picture book for young children (but I would also be happy to share Bothered by Bugs with an older group of students in Grades 3 and 4. And with your senior classes do make sure you explore this book:

Sparrow Girl

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by all the books that you have not yet discovered? I feel like this every time I visit the fabulously well stocked library where I volunteer every week. Even if I had several lifetimes I am sure I could never discover every treasure held by this library. The Teacher-Librarian was very aware of this book by the famous author/illustrator Emily Gravett book and she shared it with me because it has been short listed for the 2026 UKLA Book Awards. It really is a very good idea to keep your eye on as many international children's book awards as you can from UK, USA, New Zealand, and Canada. I am so happy to have discovered Bothered by Bugs. Add this book to your library wish list today!

Here is a partial list of other books written and illustrated by Emily Gravett - you should try to add as many of these as you can afford to your school or local library:

• Wolves (2005)
• Orange Pear Apple Bear (2006)
• Meerkat Mail (2006)
• Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears (2007)
• Monkey and Me (2007)
• The Odd Egg (2008)
• Spells (2008)
• Dogs (2009)
• The Rabbit Problem (2009)
• Blue Chameleon (2010)
• Wolf Won't Bite! (2011)
• Again! (2011)
• Matilda's Cat (2 August 2012)[12]
• Little Mouse's Big Book of Beasts (2013)
• Bear and Hare: Go Fishing (2014)
• Bear and Hare: Snow! (2014)
• Bear and Hare: Where's Bear? (2015)
• Bear and Hare: Mine! (2016)
• Tidy (2016)
• Old Hat (2017)
• Cyril and Pat (2018)
• Meerkat Christmas (2019)
• Too Much Stuff (2020)
• 10 Cats (2022)
• 10 Dogs (2023)
• Bothered by Bugs (2024)
• Bear's Nap (2025)

Grace and Mr Milligan by Caz Goodwin illustrated by Pip Kruger

Grace has a very special relationship with Mr Milligan who lives next door. Mr Milligan owns a goat called Charlie and Grace loves spending time, especially on the weekend, with Mr Milligan and old Charlie. They go to the beach, they enjoy strawberries in the garden (with cream), and they eat grapes and apples. But Charlie is an old goat and one day he falls ill and sadly dies. On his final day Mr Milligan takes Charlie on a memory walk down to the beach, over to see Grace, and through the garden. 

After Charlie dies, Mr Milligan withdraws into his house. Luckily Grace is a problem solver. Each day she visits her old friend and takes along a treat - strawberries, grapes and apples but nothing is working so she invites Mr Milligan to a picnic. They are able to talk about Charlie and reminisce about their time together but Mr Milligan still seems so sad until Grace runs inside and returns with a big bowl of whipped cream and Mr Milligan finally finds his smile. OH, and your young reading companion will smile over the possibilities of the final page. 

"Cream makes all the difference ... and so do you."

Caz and Mr Milligan has been short listed for our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) awards - Early Childhood Picture Book and New Illustrator. Here is an audio interview with Caz Goodwin and Reading with a Chance of Tacos [begin 12.25].

An ideal resource to use for explaining ageing, loss and grief, and how loving memories can be the most precious of all requisites in life. Kids' Book Review

There are several challenging themes for readers – death and dying, grief and loss — but Goodwin has introduced them empathetically and sensitively, leaving lots of room for discussion. The theme of friendship as an antidote to loss is portrayed throughout the book, strengthened by the love and happiness which Grace has shared with Mr Milligan. Reading Time

Judges critique Early Childhood: This gentle, beautifully told story explores themes of friendship, loss, grief and healing. The carefully crafted text reveals genuine friendship between the two main characters, their shared joys and their love for constant companion, Charlie, the goat. There is use of repeated phrases, humour, alliteration and rich, descriptive language. The narrative transitions sensitively, allowing readers to realise the passing of Charlie in their own time. A gentle pace offers opportunities to pause and reflect, whilst the use of the progression of the days of the week effectively conveys the passing of time. The pairing of the text and dynamic, sensitive illustrations is faultless and deftly edited throughout. The final double spread is wordless, depicting the cycle of life.

Caz Goodwin has written seven books including these:

Judges Critique New Illustrator: Pip Kruger is an accomplished freelance illustrator who lives on the coast of South Australia. She employs a lovely, folksy style that beautifully captures the essence of whimsy and love in this book. The cleverly executed endpapers hint at the importance and value of memories. Colour, framing and a variety of shot types and angles are executed in a highly engaging way and the characters’ emotions and personality are shown beautifully through gesture, body language and the inclusion of unique details. The illustrations are colourful, joyful and lively and sensitively depict the grief and joy in the story and provide substance to the relationship of Grace, Mr Milligan and his ageing goat, Charlie. 

Companion books:

The Biscuit Maker

Rose meets Mr Wintergarten

Pip Kruger is a freelance Illustrator. She lives in a small seaside town on the Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia, with her husband and two daughters.  Since completing a Master of Design in 2012, she has created graphics for international children’s and lifestyle brands, illustrated for local and state government agencies and magazines, designed logos and branding packages, and developed a line of illustration-based greeting cards, prints and textiles.  Pip's work incorporates hand-drawn elements with digital collage, fabric patterns and textured decoration. She celebrates the personal touch and appreciates imperfections and freehand lines that bring warmth and charm to her unique illustration style. From the publisher page

The Perfect Picnic by Ciara Flood

Unlikely best friends Squirrel and Mole decide today is the day for a perfect picnic. They prepare sandwiches (with no butter); apples; crackers and a delicious strawberry layer sponge cake. Squirrel has the map and Mole has his back pack but unfortunately, very early on, Mole's pack catches on a blackberry bush and the thorns rip a long slit in the bottom of his pack. Mole and Squirrel continue their hunt for the perfect picnic spot oblivious to the loss of all their food. Luckily, though, other forest animals have been following this disaster and somehow the day is saved with a wonderful generous gathering at the end even if it is not quite perfect. Oh, and for the next picnic, Mole suggests they might add some butter to the sandwiches.

I adore picnics even though I don't go on them very often. When I was a child we often went on picnics - my mum, dad and I - and we also had an American cookery book that fascinated me because it was filled with photos of glamorous people enjoying picnics in all sorts of locations.

Ciara Flood is a UK illustrator so I am puzzled as to how her book came to be published here in Australia by Five Mile Press. I have already mentioned another book by Ciara Flood - Those Pesky Rabbits. 

I love her illustration of Squirrel and Mole's homes. It reminds me of Upstairs Mouse and Downstairs Mole; Happy Hoppy Home and Need a House call Ms Mouse. 

Take a look at this post about picnics from my friend at Kinderbookswitheverything. I would pair The Perfect Picnic (sorry it is out of print) with:

The Disgusting Sandwich

The Rattlebang Picnic

Another famous book where the main character does not realise everything is being lost on their journey is this one but I am sure there are others:

Out of Nowhere by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

Beetle and his friend Caterpillar enjoy picnics on their rock. In the evenings, while Beetle sleeps, Caterpillar gazes at the moon. Stop right here - yes this is a friendship between a beetle and a caterpillar. No problem with that except it's a caterpillar!! What will happen? Now read about Farfallina and Marcel.  

Yes, the little caterpillar is going to change - he is going to make his cocoon.  Remember the famous book The Very Hungry Caterpillar ...

Beetle does not know about metamorphosis. All he knows is his friend has disappeared. Your young reader now knows more than poor old Beetle - we can all see the cocoon is under the rock ledge but Beetle does not think to look down. He sees a glimpse of red in the forest and so he picks up the very heavy picnic basket and sets off to find his true friend. It is a beautiful moment when the pair of friends are reunited. These words are so important:

 "Then I looked more closely. And I just knew. It was my friend! She had changed a little bit but it was still my friend all the same."

One of the truly special aspects of this book is the way Chris Naylor-Ballesteros allows the pictures to speak for themselves. There are four double page spreads with no text.  His pencil illustrations in black and white with an accent of the red caterpillar and later red butterfly give a 'child like' quality to this book which would be perfect to read aloud to a preschool group.

I adored The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros so when I saw his name on the cover of Out of Nowhere I grabbed this book!

I would pair Out of Nowhere with these:

Motor Bill and the Lovely Caroline by Jenny Wagner illustrated by Ron Brooks

Tuesday Treasure

"When they got to the country they found a place where the grass was short and soft, beside a creek where they could cool their feet. They ate currant buns, cinnamon tarts, pies, peanut brittle and oranges and plums, and drank ginger beer."

I love these words and the pastel scene that accompanies them. The marvel of this book, for me, comes from the artistic interpretation by Ron Brooks. I imagine Jenny Wagner sending her words on a simple piece of paper, perhaps in a letter:

Bill had a car.
He was the only person in his street who did.
And because he didn't go to work, and spent all day playing in his garden, and because he couldn't tie a bow, nobody believed his car was real.
That's why they called him Motor Bill.

How does Ron Brooks interpret these words?
In his book Drawn from the Heart Ron explains he loved this text by Jenny Wagner especially these first lines.
Bill is a donkey. Why?
There are more details about this below.
We see a human family walking beside his flowering hedge in a beautiful rural setting.
His car is a box with straps and Bill powers his car with his feet.

Ron says, in his book Drawn from the heart, "When you think about it, isn't it odd that some one (who) has a car, must surely be an adult, yet can't tie a bow?"

How did Ron come to think of a donkey. Jenny Wagner suggested Bill was a boy between sixteen and twenty-four. Ron's publisher thought Bill was a boy aged around six or seven.  These ideas didn't sit comfortably with Ron and nor did the idea that Bill was intellectually challenged. Then Ron saw this book by Emma Chichester Clark which features three young donkeys:

Ron also thought about the young donkey from the bible story and so it was settled Bill would be a donkey but what about Caroline. "Caroline is just a little more knowing, a little more worldly than Bill, and she has pluck, cheek and courage ... " He decided to make Caroline a goat.

"Motor Bill is not just a story about acceptance of 'difference' in another ... It is an extraordinarily tender story about openness and generosity, about love and trust; an exquisitely written text about recognition - about recognising genuine specialness of any kind in another, embracing, celebrating and sharing in it." Drawn from the Heart, page 175  Ron goes on to say this is a book about imagination "the making power, the creative power, of love and imagination."

You may have met the combination of Jenny Wagner and Ron Brooks in three of their previous (and famous) picture books:

Aranea : A story about a spider

The Bunyip of Berkeley's Creek

Looking at these titles I hope you can see the importance of keeping an older book such as Motor Bill and the Lovely Caroline which was published in 1994. It is interesting to note that just one year later Ron's book Old Pig (Margaret Wild) was short-listed for the CBCA Picture Book of the Year award. When you place these two books, Old Pig and Motor Bill and the Lovely Caroline, side by side there are so many similarities to share with an older group of students who are exploring visual literacy.

Rattlebang picnic by Margaret Mahy illustrated by Steven Kellog

It is picture book month and so we are celebrating in our own way with a selection of special picture books.

The Rattlebang Picnic is a wonderful story of ingenuity and family life by master storyteller Margaret Mahy.  Can you begin to guess the location of this picnic :

"It was a beautiful morning.  A plume of pure white cloud floated around the top of the mountain.  The old rattlebang struggled up the winding,rocky road - bumping and banging and backfiring - then stoppped right beside the hot springs."

The McTavish parents have discussed things.  Jack McTavish explains they can either have a wonderful speedy car or lots of children but not both. They decide to have a few children and an old car.  "So the McTavishes had seven children and drove an old rattlebang."

Luckily Granny makes a pizza for the picnic and luckily Granny is not a very good cook.  The pizza will save the day in a most surprising way.

I love exploring all the books in our library by Margaret Mahy.  Her picture books are all gems. This book makes a terrific read-aloud and lends itself to an exploration of our books about volcanoes.

Over November we are featuring one picture book each day.  I will explore some of our week one choices over the next few blog entries.