Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle

Combining watercolor and pencil artwork, this informative iconographic-animated adaptation of the 2014 picture book by author Cheryl Bardoe and illustrator Alan Marks serves up a positive spin on the lowly dung beetle, who…you know…eats poop. Behold the Beautiful Dung Beetle features visual examples—with textbook-like illustrations—along with lots of vocabulary words (such as “elytra” top wings, pupa, scarabs, etc.) to introduce young viewers to the three types of dung beetles (dwellers, rollers, and tunnelers), exploring their roles in digging and stashing food, while also looking at how eggs are laid and hatched. Narrated by Susie Berneis, this engaging nature study (sure to make youngsters giggle over euphemisms connected to feces, such as “lightening its load”) also includes a read-along option. Recommended. Aud: K, E, P. (J. Williams-Wood)