Review for “The Bug Came Back” by Stacie Morrell
“The Bug Came Back” by Author Stacie Morrell is a free-spirited children’s story that transforms one young girl’s ‘day of play’ into a game of “keeping the fly away!”
We appreciate and value this story greatly because it deals with and focuses on feelings and emotions for children, which are relevant to the youth and an important topic to highlight for various reasons. In this case, right from the start the feeling of annoyance is clear, as the main character is harmlessly antagonized by an unyielding, buzzing fly while trying to eat breakfast.
Determined to get rid of the buzzing, flying pest, she swats it away only for it to return! And no matter what she does, or where she goes there is no escape, for the buzzing fly is destined to be a part of her day. We all find this utterly hilarious…and relatable!
Morrell’s simplistic choice of words and relaxed rhyme-scheme adds to the comfort of this entertaining story, allowing children to conveniently read and follow along with the words, helping under the category of phonics and phonetics, encouraging children to pronounce both familiar and unfamiliar words while remaining engaged and inquisitive!
This book is advantageous in the sense that it’s full of power verbs, great for kids, to help create a “show-and-tell” effect for the audience, visibly showing action through the art of detailed imagery while simultaneously using the power of words to emphasize and highlight the images shown.
In one of our favorite scenes she says “Drawing, choosing, coloring musing,” but… “the bug came back,” with an expression on her face that explains her emotions precisely…. aggravated. We’re drawn to the evocative illustrations and spend more than a moment admiring the animated, skilled artwork.
Another terrific aspect we find in this book is how many of the kids in our reading group can connect with this type of practical experience regarding their own personal life, leading us to an intermittent discussion about insects, pests and our own experiences with them between pages.
This down-to-earth book has a neat and simple storyline that is dynamic and ideal for children, placing the main character in a relatable setting and atmosphere for a young audience such as the home, neighborhood and play yard while transitioning between different, fun activities like coloring, drawing, playing and eating.
Vibrant, colorful animated illustrations keep our audience glued to this humorous story and add a traditional flair to the book’s design with neat crayon-like sketches and comprehensive images to support the main character’s emotions, body language, and facial expressions, engaging our audience, and our sight senses! In addition to this, we believe the arrangement or layout of the book is artistic and unique, keeping the images in center-focus with easily-memorized fleeting verses of rhyme complementing each page.
Morrell created this story with a universal appeal that can accommodate and please any audience with the versatile ability to make both, parent and child (children), laugh, smile and rapt. And to make us all laugh even harder, the end page of the book, without words, tells us this buzzing flying-winged insect isn’t going anywhere any time soon!
Brilliant work, Stacie!
We’re pleased to rate this book 5-stars and hope you get your copy today!