Beautiful pictures of insects, used to tell a dull story about bullying and cooperation. ( )

Escaping from the hunger of a toad, Crickwing the cockroach sets himself apart from his fellow insects, who tease him about his handicap. His nightly searches for food leave him hungry, as he allows too much time creating sculptures of the bits he finds, which are swiped away from larger creatures who happen upon his intense concentration. Frustrated, hungry and in pain, he takes his situation out on a colony of leaf-cutting ants with bullying antics. But the table turns and they, en masse, tether him up as a sacrifice to the army ants. A change of heart for all leaves us with a cheery lesson on acceptance. Beautiful and fun illustrations make this a delight.

(I believe even Kafka would be pleased!) ( )

This story is about a cockroach named Crickwing. He was named Crickwing after damaging a wing, when fleeing a predator. Crickwing has a special talent for "food sculpting". He builds his creations out of roots, plants, and petals, and then eats his creation. Crickwing is harassed by lizards, ocelots, and food stealing monkeys. He realizes that they only bother him and not the ants. Crickwing decides to bully the ants until their Queen orders him to be captured. In the end, Crickwing realizes that bullying is not the answer and he apologizes to the former enemies. This book has great illustrations. This story would be great for discussing bullying, acceptance of others, and team work. This book could also be used during an insect unit because there are many different insect characters in the story. ( )

Tired of being picked on by larger creatures, a cockroach named Crickwing decides to make himself feel better by picking on some busy ants. But when Crickwing endangers the ants, he realizes that he must somehow help the smaller creatures.

A great book with good pictures about an ant who was bullied, but then bullies as a result of that. In the end, worked together with the other ants and realized that good things can happen if everyone puts aside their differences and doesn't judge. ( )