School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-When two sleepy bugs, looking for a comfortable napping spot, confront each other inside a daylily, they have an altercation. Unfortunately, they each lose a wing during their squabble and have to resort to using their feet for traveling. The two meet up once again when they're both snatched by a bullfrog and set aside for his dinner. Fortunately, just at the moment the frog is ready to eat them, the two insects clutch onto each other and work together to make their escape. The mostly grass-green and pond- and sky-blue illustrations vary from full spreads to small vignettes and deftly depict the characters' humorous facial expressions. The googly-eyed creatures and their utterance of "Drat!" at just the right moment create a very funny story and a great read-aloud that children and their adults will love.-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Horsefly and Honeybee meet inauspiciously, when the petite yellow bee invades an orange daylily occupied by the larger fly. "They had a fight. It wasn't pretty. Horsefly lost a wing. Honeybee lost a wing, too." They march off in opposite directions, only to be captured by a bullfrog. (He catches insects with his fingers rather than his tongue, thus prolonging the suspense.) The rivals squat miserably on a lily pad while the frog collects more food, but soon discover that their survival depends upon cooperation. Cecil (Brontorina) creates striking oil-on-paper images; his cartoonish characters escape the leathery green lily pad, with its fuchsia and violet blooms, for crystalline blue skies and a shared home in an orange flower bud. He concludes with an epilogue from Luciano De Crescenzo: "We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another." While the fate of real-life insects dismembered in such a way would be decidedly less rosy, the charm with which the book's message is delivered should keep readers from dwelling on such unpleasantness. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.