Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (2024)

Table of Contents
Children’s books and activities How to explore this theme: More themed resources: Other topics to explore Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books Age Level: 3-6 years old Age Level: 6-9 years old Age Level: 9-12 years old Hands-on ActivitiesBuild on what you’re learning together through books with these family-friendly activities, experiments, and crafts. Summer WritingGive kids a chance to flex their writing muscles all summer long. Try one of these prompts, selected from our writing contest archives and other literacy organizations. Great Websites for KidsDive deeper into topics of interest with these media-rich and interactive sites. Great Podcasts for KidsListen and learn with these podcasts especially for kids.These podcasts are free and easy to listen to from any device via Apple Podcasts,Google Podcasts, orStitcher — or from Listen Notes, a podcast search engine. Educational AppsEducational apps recommended by Common Sense Media and other trusted reviewers. More Themed Resources Growing Readers Tip Sheets Our Summer Blog Washington DC for Kids Places References

Children’s books and activities

Do you know any kids who are fascinated by “bugs”like bees, ants, dragonflies, ladybugs, cicadas,spiders, and other arthropods? We've gathered up a great collection of books, activities, apps, and websites for learning all about your favorite bugs.

Try pairing fiction with nonfiction books and exploring different genres (like poetry and biographies) and formats (like graphic novels and audio books). You'll be creating your own "text sets" — collections of texts focused on a specific topic, such asbugs, birds, and animals. Reading widely in this way helps children build background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

You might also want to explore our free toolkits: BugBuddies and River Rangers.

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (1)

How to explore this theme:

  • Read fiction and nonfiction books
  • Try some hands-on activities
  • Build writing skills with these fun ideas
  • Dig deeper with kid-friendly websites
  • Listen and learn with these podcasts especially for kids
  • Play and learn with mobile apps

More themed resources:

  • Video interviews with children’s authors
  • Washington DC for kids

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (2)

Other topics to explore

  • Birds and Animals
  • Homes and Habitats
  • Nature: Our Green World
  • Oceans, Rivers and Ponds

Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (4)Print List

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (5)

Anansi The Spider: A Tale From the Ashanti

By: Gerald McDermott

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Fiction

Have you ever wondered how the moon got where it is? According to this Ashanti tale, Nyame, the...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (6)

Ants

By: Mari Schuh

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Clear photographs in a colorful format combine with brief information to provide an introduction to...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (7)

Bees, Snails & Peaco*ck Tails

By: Betsy Franco

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Nonfiction

Lyrical language and textured collages poetically convey the wonder of patterns and shapes in...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (8)

Beetle Bop

By: Denise Fleming

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Beetles come in many shapes and sizes — revealed in rhyming text and luminous illustrations....

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (9)

Cicada Symphony

By: Sue Fliess

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Nonfiction

There are about three thousand different kinds of cicadas on earth. Some species emerge from the...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (10)

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems

By: Paul Janeczko

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Seasons are celebrated from spring when "Rain beats down,/roots stretch up…" to a cold winter night...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (11)

Flight of the Honey Bee

By: Raymond Huber

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Follow the flight of a honey bee as she searches for nectar to sustain her hive and, along the...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (12)

Sounds of the Wild: Bugs

By: Maurice Pledger

Age Level: 3-6 years old

With delightful sounds and pop-up panoramas, this book lets kids hear the hum of bees, the ticking...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (13)

The Butterfly Garden

By: Laura Weston

Age Level: 3-6 years old

The life cycle of a monarch butterfly begins with an egg and a feast by caterpillars; each...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (14)

The Honey Makers

By: Gail Gibbons

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Thousands of bees visited more than a million flowers to gather the nectar that went into that one-...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (15)

The Honeybee Man

By: Lela Nargi

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Fred is an urban beekeeper who shares the fruits of his work with neighbors. Information about...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (16)

The Icky Bug Alphabet Book

By: Jerry Pallotta

Age Level: 3-6 years old

For many children, "icky" bugs are endlessly fascinating. This alphabet book helps children...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (17)

Waiting for Wings

By: Lois Ehlert

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Every spring, butterflies emerge and dazzle the world with their vibrant beauty. But where do...

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See Also
Scientists studied how cicadas pee. Their insights could shed light on fluid dynamics

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (18)

Why Do We Need Bees?

By: Emily Bone

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Why do we need bees? Where do they live? Who's who in a beehive? This lift-the-flap book answers...

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Age Level: 6-9 years old

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (19)Print List

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (20)

Ace Lacewing: Bug Detective

By: David Biedrzycki

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Ace Lacewing — whose business is bad bugs — narrates the saga of how he and his trusty sidekick and...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (21)

Ants

By: Deborah Hodge

Age Level: 6-9 years old

What has six legs, is very strong, always busy, and probably lives in your neighborhood? The ant,...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (22)

Ants Rule: The Long and Short of It

By: Bob Barner

Age Level: 6-9 years old

This is a colorful and fun-filled introduction to nonstandard measurement, comparison, and...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (23)

Butterflies

By: Seymour Simon

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Stunning full-color photographs and tantalizing text introduce these fascinating creatures and...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (24)

Butterflies Belong Here: A Story of One Idea, Thirty Kids, and a World of Butterflies

By: Deborah Hopkinson

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Nonfiction

In this story of community conservation, a girl finds a home in a new place and a way to help...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (25)

Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner

By: Janice N. Harrington

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Nonfiction

Charles Henry Turner, the first Black entomologist, was fascinated by plants and animals and bugs....

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (26)

Cricket in the Thicket: Poems about Bugs

By: Carol Murray

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Short poems present a range of familiar insects from crickets to Monarch butterflies. Each is...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (27)

Flutter and Hum: Animal Poems/Aleteo y Zumbido: Poemas de Animales

By: Julie Paschkis

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Short poems about animals appear in English and Spanish accompanied by textured illustrations...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (28)

Fly Guy Presents: Dinosaurs

By: Tedd Arnold

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Nonfiction

Fly Guy and Buzz are ready for their next field trip as they visit a natural history museum to...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (29)

Martina the Beautiful co*ckroach: A Cuban Folktale

By: Carmen Agra Deedy

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Fiction

A sweet retelling of the Cuban folktale, full of puns and a sprinkling of Spanish.When it is...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (30)

Mosquito Bite

By: Alexandra Siy, Dennis Kunkel

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Two children play hide and seek outdoors on a warm night. Little do they know that a culex, a...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (31)

My Awesome Summer by P. Mantis

By: Paul Meisel

Age Level: 6-9 years old

The narrator was born on May 17th, a “sunny spring day!” On May 19th, she ate lots of aphids but...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (32)

Nature All Around: Bugs

By: Pamela Hickman

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Nonfiction

This illustrated introductionto ants, honeybees, dragonflies, and more coversthe basic body...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (33)

Nature Log Kids: A Kid's Journal to Record Their Birding Experiences

By: DeAnna Brandt

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Birds are everywhere — even the most urban neighborhood is a good place to look for birds and study...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (34)

Over and Under the Pond

By: Kate Messner

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Discover the plants and animals that make up the rich, interconnected ecosystem of a mountain...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (35)

Roberto: The Insect Architect

By: Nina Laden

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Ever since he was a wee mite (a termite, that is), Roberto has wanted to be an architect....

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (36)

Spiders and Their Webs

By: Darlyne Murawski

Age Level: 6-9 years old

A biologist introduces spiders and their webs through stunning full color close-up photographs...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (37)

The Bee Tree

By: Patricia Polacco

Age Level: 6-9 years old

When Mary Ellen gets bored with her reading, Grandpa knows a hunt for a bee tree is just what...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (38)

The Bee-Man of Orn

By: Frank Stockton

Age Level: 6-9 years old

An aged Bee-man lives contentedly among his insect friends, surviving on honey and the...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (39)

The Buzz on Bees: Why Are They Disappearing?

By: Shelly Rotner, Anne Woodhull

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Bees have been around for over 65 million years but have been in decline since early in the 21st...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (40)

The Life and Times of the Honeybee

By: Charles Micucci

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Detailed, full-color illustrations help explain the complex world inside a beehive and the...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (41)

The Life Cycle of a Honeybee

By: Bobbie Kalman

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Learn about each stage of a honeybee's life cycle from egg to adult. Full-color photographs,...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (42)

The Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive

By: Joanna Cole

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Readers know they're with Ms. Frizzle and her class when the bus is disguised as a bee and...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (43)

The Queen Bee

By: Grimm Brothers

Age Level: 6-9 years old

This is the timeless folktale of a young prince who undoes the terrible spell on a castle by...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (44)

What If There Were No Bees?

By: Suzanne Slade

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Grassland ecosystems can be found on nearly every continent. Countless animals and plants live...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (45)

Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs

By: Patricia Lauber

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Nonfiction

What do you and a tuna have in common? You are both part of a food chain that begins with green...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (46)

Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold

By: Joyce Sidman

Age Level: 6-9 years old

How animals survive — even thrive — in winter is presented in a variety of poetic forms, each...

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Age Level: 9-12 years old

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (47)Print List

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (48)

Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard

By: Loree Griffin Burns

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Nonfiction

Anyone can get involved in gathering data for ongoing, actual scientific studies such as the...

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Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (49)

Leaf Litter Critters

By: Leslie Bulion

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Take a poetic tour through the duff and get the dirt on the tiny, fascinating critters that live...

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Hands-on Activities

Build on what you’re learning together through books with these family-friendly activities, experiments, and crafts.

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (50)

    Bee Dance

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (51)

    Bee Hummer Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (52)

    Exploratorium

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (53)

    Bee Thankful Smoothie

    Start with a Book

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (54)

    Beehive Model

    Lawrence Hall of Science

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (55)

    Bug Hunting

    Go Explore Nature

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (56)

    Bug Spotter

    Woodland Trust

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (57)

    Bugs at Night

    National Wildlife Federation

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (58)

    Busy Blossoms

    National Wildlife Federation

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (59)

    Butterfly Feeder Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (60)

    PBS Parents

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (61)

    Flower Powder: How Pollination Works

    Lawrence Hall of Science

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (62)

    Flying Insects Spotter

    Woodland Trust

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (63)

    Hexagon Hunt

    Lawrence Hall of Science

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (64)

    How Bees Make Honey

    Start with a Book

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (65)

    How Bees See

    Bumblebee Conservation Trust

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (66)

    Insect Symmetry

    National Wildlife Federation

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (67)

    Insects in Action

    National Wildlife Federation

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (68)

    Nature Box

    Little Pine Learners

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (69)

    Nature in One Minute

    National Wildlife Federation

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (70)

    Nature Journal

    Great Stems

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (71)

    Outdoor Pollen Game

    Bumblebee Conservation Trust

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (72)

    Plant a Bee Garden

    Let’s Lasso the Moon

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (73)

    Pollinator Hunt

    National Wildlife Federation

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (74)

    Pond Dwellers

    National Wildlife Federation

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (75)

    Smell Like a Honeybee

    PBS Parents

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (76)

    Snug as a Bug: Animal Shelters

    Lawrence Hall of Science

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (77)

    Soda Can Vibrating Bug

    Instructables

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (78)

    Spy on Ants!

    National Wildlife Federation

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (79)

    Water Strider Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (80)

    Science Buddies

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (81)

    Weaving a Food Web

    Start with a Book

  • Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (82)

    Webby Wonders

    National Wildlife Federation

Summer Writing

Give kids a chance to flex their writing muscles all summer long. Try one of these prompts, selected from our writing contest archives and other literacy organizations.

  • Bee Poetry
  • Daily Bee Newspaper
  • Keep a Nature Journal

Great Podcasts for Kids

Listen and learn with these podcasts especially for kids.These podcasts are free and easy to listen to from any device via Apple Podcasts,Google Podcasts, orStitcher — or from Listen Notes, a podcast search engine.

Educational Apps

Educational apps recommended by Common Sense Media and other trusted reviewers.

More Themed Resources

Growing Readers Tip Sheets

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (89)

Simple activities for parents and kids to do together to build reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Read online or print the PDF.

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (90)

Our Summer Blog

  • We’re Going on a Bug Hunt!

See more blog posts >

Bugs: Bees, Butterflies, and More (2024)

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