Elinor Wonders Why, Bugging Out

The three friends, Elinor, the rabbit, who was curious about everything; Olive, the elephant, who had an excellent memory; and Ari, the bat, who was able to look at problems from all sides, had to decide what kind of insect they wanted to be.

Elinor decided she wanted to be a butterfly because she loved their wings and their colours. Ari wanted to be a dragonfly, and Olive was having a hard time deciding because there were so many different kinds of insects.

At home, Elinor was planning her costume. She knew that butterflies have two antennae and four wings, but she needed to look at a real butterfly to see how many legs it had. She discovered that they have six legs. Through observation, she also learned that butterflies get their food from nectar which they drink through a tube- like proboscis that comes out of their mouth. She and her dad made a costume from cardboard and even fashioned a straw to mimic the proboscis.

Information boxes with a magnifying glass icon are found throughout the book. In each box is a scientific fact about insects, including:

Butterflies use their antennae to smell and wings to fly.
Insects have six legs. Other creatures may have more.
Butterflies have a proboscis to drink.
A bookworm is any insect that eats through paper

The back of the book includes step by step instructions , with diagrams, on how to build a butterfly feeder and a section entitled “We Need More Observations” with specific questions to help the budding scientist record his/her notes.

The graphic novel format is appealing to young children. The characters are cartoons, and the dialogue is easy to follow. The illustrations are full page and full colour.

Teachers and caregivers can use Elinor Wonders Why, Bugging Out with a unit on insects and butterflies in particular. The scientific method is used throughout, with the introduction of the concepts of experiment and observations with step by step instructions and diagrams.