The Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs: Discover Amazing Butterflies, Moths, Spiders, Dragonflies and Other Insects!

by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards, 144 pages, 8x10, softcover. We picked out this book for our younger readers and were pleasantly surprised to find it quite useful for practical application in the garden. If you are a fan of the Eyewitness educational books from the ’90s, this one is for you. The authors do a tremendous job including enough tantalizing information to get you hooked. With 45 insect and spider species covered, it’s easy to forgive a lack of depth. My favorite thing about this book is that it shows photos of every life stage! I can’t count the number of times I’ve found eggs or a caterpillar that I was unable to successfully identify in the garden. The book includes an easy comparison guide with each life stage for quick ID—even if you can’t find the exact species, you might find a look-alike to help you hone in. -RM