Review - The Mosquito

The Mosquito (Disgusting Critters)
by Elise Gravel
Date: 2020
Publisher: Tundra Books (NY)
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Hilarious illustrated nonfiction about mosquitos perfect for beginning readers. Conversational text and silly illustrations will have you up all night reading about the most annoying bug on Earth!

Fast mosquito facts:
- Distinctive trait: Leaving annoying itchy bites
- Diet: Your blood (and nectar and plant juice)
- Special talent: Making a terrible whining sound in your ear

The Mosquito covers habitat (mosquitos live everywhere except Antarctica and Iceland!), species (over 3,500!), history (the oldest recorded mosquito was 79 million years ago!) and much more. Although silly and off-the-wall, The Mosquito contains factual information that will both amuse and teach at the same time.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is a nice addition to the Disgusting Critters series by Elise Gravel. It features neat facts about mosquitoes and cute pictures that help easily convey the information to the reader.

For some reason, I didn't like this title as much as some of the others in the series. I didn't feel I learned a whole lot, and the ending seemed kind of abrupt; I even wondered if I was missing some pages.

But this book does fit in well with the rest of the series, and if you're looking for children's books about pesky critters, this might be a good one to start with.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tundra Books (NY) for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.5 out of 5