Booklist Reviews

This companion book to What's Your Favorite Animal? (2014) and What's Your Favorite Color? (2017) features words and pictures by 15 accomplished illustrators, each introducing a favorite bug on a large double-page spread. As long as a paragraph or as short as a sentence, the accompanying prose or verse text might include fascinating facts, vivid memories, or true confessions about insects, such as Carle's "To tell you the truth, I have not always cared for caterpillars," followed by the origin story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969). Featuring wonderfully varied and often striking images, the next 14 spreads display the work of Denise Fleming, Teagan White, Beth Krommes, Maggie Rudy, Scott Magoon, Molly Idle, Ekua Holmes, Tim Hopgood, Kenard Pak, Brendan Wenzel, Britta Teckentrup, Eric Fan, Eugene Yelchin, and Joey Chou, who bring their own varied styles, media, and viewpoints to the theme. The closing pages include a paragraph introducing each artist along with a childhood photo. Royalties will be donated to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. A handsome volume. Grades K-3. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

As in What's Your Favorite Animal? and What's Your Favorite Color?, Carle asks talented colleagues to each provide a one-spread riff on "What's Your Favorite Bug?" Fourteen illustrators take up the challenge, including Ekua Holmes (who fondly remembers a childhood ant farm) and Eugene Yelchin (who is surprised into joy by a walking stick). Carle himself provides a self-portrait as--what else?--a caterpillar. Copyright 2019 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Horn Book Magazine Reviews

As in What's Your Favorite Animal? (rev. 1/14) and What's Your Favorite Color? (rev. 11/17), Eric Carle asks a talented bunch of his colleagues to each provide a one-spread riff on "What's Your Favorite Bug?" Fourteen illustrators take up the challenge, including Ekua Holmes (who fondly remembers a childhood ant farm) and Eugene Yelchin (who is surprised into joy by a walking stick). Carle himself provides a self-portrait as—what else?—a caterpillar. roger Sutton Copyright 2018 Horn Book Magazine Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

A lively collection of illustrations of crawling, creeping, and flying creatures offers a look at the versatility of several well-known children's artists. As with What's Your Favorite Animal? (2014) and What's Your Favorite Color? (2017), Carle here showcases the work of 15 friends whose responses to the title question offer a wonderful range of styles, media, and palettes together with brief stories, poems, and comments. Multicolored dots on the green endpapers suggest caterpillar eggs on a leafy background. Each of the varied selection of arthropods within is presented in a contained but generous two-page spread. The creature selection goes beyond the title's "favorite bugs" to include millipedes and a couple of spider species. Facts about each are spare or absent, but this is an art book rather than an informational work. Selections vary, including Kenard Pak's graceful fireflies, Brendan Wenzel's bright peacock spiders, and Eric Fan's droll bowler-hatted, briefcase-totin g worker bee. Ekua Holmes' portrait of herself as a brown-skinned young girl observing the busy ants in her ant farm joins Carle's humanoid butterfly-child on the cover and Carle himself disguised as a large and bearded Very Hungry Caterpillar (both the latter are white). Brief biographies introduce the artists; media and techniques aren't disclosed. A terrific prompt and conversation starter for young artists. (Picture book. 2-9) Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Reviews

PreS-Gr 2—In this companion to What's Your Favorite Animal? and What's Your Favorite Color?, 14 children's book illustrators join Carle in revealing their favorite insects. Using different media and artistic styles, along with poems, anecdotes, or brief information about the merits of their creature, each contributor presents his or her choice on a spread. The insects are striking, and most appear stretched across the pages. Carle, who humorously depicts himself with a caterpillar head complete with antennae and huge eyes above his bushy white beard, begins. He loves caterpillars because The Very Hungry Caterpillar has made fans the world over. Six adorable bees dance and sway atop huge flowers as Molly Idle describes the "boogie-woogie wiggle" and "buzzing ballet" they use to lead their companions to the best blossoms. A worker bee, Eric Fan's favorite, stands upright carrying a briefcase and sporting a bowler. Three incredibly patterned peacock spiders crawl across Brendan Wenzel's pages. Back matter provides brief biographies accompanied by childhood photos for all the illustrators: Denise Fleming, Teagan White, Beth Krommes, Scott Magoon, Ekua Holmes, Tim Hopgood, Kenard Pak, Britta Teckentrup, Eugene Yelchin, and Joey Chou. VERDICT Eye-catching larger-than-life illustrations and interesting information that might spark further investigation into the insect world make this an excellent choice for all libraries.—Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal.