Buzz: 08/13/07

Buzz is one of the books we got at Chaucer's books on our trip last month to Santa Barbara. It is a wonderful introduction to arthropods. It's designed for ages 4 to 8 but the photography and layout of each page makes it interesting enough to read as an adult. Be prepared to spend some time with the book as it has 144 pages.

The book though isn't just a light weight text book about all things arthropod. It also contains games (some that require scanning and printing first) and recipes. Buzz has one of the most convincing arguments for eating bugs that I've ever read: crabs, lobsters and shrimp are arthropods too. That's right, crickets taste like crustaceans! It's no different than reptiles tasting like chicken.

Buzz doesn't advocate just going out and harvesting a bunch of garden bugs for eating. Like mushrooms, many arthropods are poisonous. The book, does, however, give pointers on where to get edible ones.

In reading this book I learned about: arthropod anatomy, how to cook them, how to tell butterflies from moths, the different classifications by wing type and different larval types.

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