Denise Dowling Mortensen

Captain Bob of the Bug Patrol shares his daily routine with the reader in this entertaining picture-book in rhyme, from his 9am beginning, complete with cruller, to his 8pm ending, when he goes home to his favorite insects of all - his family! In between he must contend with: ants who swarm a donut, beetles who get into a fender-bender, spiders on the rampage during a motorcycle rally, a roach picket at the roach motel, and a missing baby flea. It's a busy day for the bug patrol, but Officer Bob keeps his calm and is always there to sort things out...

With a text that reads quite well aloud - "Rowdy ants, / form a line. / Show your manners / when you dine! / Take a crumb, / do a deed. / Share it with / an ant in need" - and emphasizes the importance of both community policing and good citizenship on the part of the general populace, Bug Patrol is a picture-book that also boasts colorful and engaging artwork, done in acrylic and ink in a fun cartoon-like style. The combination makes for an excellent story-time selection. Recommended to anyone looking for children's stories about bugs and/or policemen, or picture-books in rhyme.… (more)

This is not the type of books I will usually pick up at the library, my four year old actually brought it to me. However, we both ended up enjoying it. It follows a police man (bug) through a whole day, sort of like [b:Policeman Small|42448|Policeman Small (Mr. Small, #10)|Lois Lenski|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1169881244s/42448.jpg|3221508] (but more modern!) The text is in rhyme, catchy, clever, not dumbed down, and some of the vocabulary required explaining, such as "perpetrators" and "picket line". And the humor in the roach demonstrations was mostly lost on my son ... but it was funny. Luckily, speeding and partying aside, there are no "bad guys" in this book, and the even tempered Captain Bob is a real hero. The verse is rhythmic and regimented, much in the spirit of the patrol bug. If you're planning a read aloud, you might want to practice reading through it first, to get the rhythms right. We loved the refrain of "Wee-o, wee-o, wee-o, woo! Bug Mobile coming through". Coincidentally, we have a kid pop song at the house, playing with something similar. Finally, the illustrations by [a:Cece Bell|184459|Cece Bell|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] do a lot for this book. While I didn't initially care too much for the drawings, I really like the dot technique employed in the graphics, and it does make the book stand out quite a bit. So, I would normally have rated it 3.5 stars if I could, but considering how much my son enjoyed it I splurge a whole four of them.… (more)