Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective: The Big Swat Paperback – Illustrated, February 1, 2012

As soon as my daughter discovers another one has been published, she wants it. And how can a mom say no when a child is asking for more books? She loves them and we love them. The author does such a great job of pairing human characteristics to the bugs.

We love these books! didn't know they were a series, had to own them all!

This is the third in the series of Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective stories. I teach reading to middle school students and they loved the first book in the series, which is far and above the best one, with its witty wordplay and memorable characters. For a picture book to hold the attention of middle school students says a lot about the story and pictures. The two sequels, while enjoyable, do not reach quite the same level of quality as the inaugural book. In this book, Ace has to find who stole a lucky baseball bat from a local player. What's most fun in this book is reading all the little jokes that are worked into the pictures. While still a worthwhile read, I would like to see a return of the word play that made the first book so much fun.

Bought this for my boyfriend's 5-year-old son and he absolutely loves it. He wants it read to him every night.

I asked for a copy of this book to review because I mistook it for an educational book about bugs. It's not. Well, not exactly. You can't use it to teach facts about bugs, however, it can be used as a fun introduction to a unit on bugs.This is a picture book mystery about a stolen bat, how the star (Bugsy Goldwing) couldn't function without his lucky bat and how he learns that he can. He can do it!The cast is all bugs: mantis, stinkbugs, leafhoppers and other creatures from the insect world. The text features some hilarious statements such as, "The roach almost jumped out of his exoskeleton." and "Hoppi came up seven aphids short of home plate." The illustrations are colorful and unique.So, although I was disappointed it was not an "educational" book, I highly recommend it, especially for boys and any kid who loves bugs, baseball and detective stories.

My kids loved the other 2 books in the series so we got this one as a Christmas Gift, so we haven’t gotten their response to it yet. However I’m glad it’s a 5-yr old in my own family receiving it as the back cover and last 3 pages were mangled when I opened the package today. I am disappointed as we are very respectful of books in our home, and I would be embarrassed to be gifting this to anyone else.

Christmas for the grand kids...