"Y.E.S. Award of Excellence"

for the

World's Best Books on Minibeasts.

The Young Entomologists' Society, Inc. is the proud sponsor of the "Y.E.S. Award of Excellence" for the World's Best Books on Minibeasts.

The purpose of these awards are to recognize outstanding books that foster awareness and facilitate learning about the insects and other arthropods of our world. Selections for each year's awards are made by a panel of distinguished judges from the Young Entomologists' Society. Both fiction and nonfiction books may qualify for an award. Criteria used to select outstanding non-fiction books included technical and scientific merit, quality of illustrations, encouragement for further investigation, age appropriateness, unique or special qualities, overall appeal, and value for the money. Criteria used to select the outstanding fiction booksincluded accuracy of entomological principles in storyline, quality of the illustrations, lack of negative attitudes about insects, quality of "hidden lessons" in storyline, overall appeal, and value for the money.

"Y.E.S. Awards of Excellence" have been bestowed upon the following outstanding books on minibeasts.

1992

Ladybug. Written by Emery Bernhard, illustrated by Durga Bernhard, and published by Holiday House, New York. This book provides complete and accurate information on the biology and ecology of ladybugs in a way that is easily understood by young readers. The complete story of ladybugs - life cycle, behavior, folklore, beneficial activities - is brought down to early childhood level. While this book serves as a great introduction to these valuable and interesting beetles, it also provides information beyond a simple introduction and encourages children to expand their thinking about the importance of ladybugs. The statement on the last page of the text is an excellent example of this. "In early America, it was said that a ladybug would bring good luck if it was found in the house in winter. It is still good luck, and now we know why!" encourages young readers to stop and think about what they learned, and perhaps to consider investigating ladybugs further. The illustrations are elegantly simplistic, though accurate, and have good age appeal. The ladybug "trail" that winds its way through the book helps compliment the storyline and emphasizes the interconnectedness of the information.

Insects and Spiders. Written by Lorus J. and Margery Milne, illustrated by Claire Phipps, and published by Doubleday, New York. This book presents information on insects and spiders based on similarities of habitat, behavior, or close relationships. As a result of this type of format, the book provides a well-balanced, holistic presentation on insects and spiders. The superb introduction sets the stage for the chapters that follow, and the conclusion makes it crystal clear that we actually inhabit and share the insect's domain. This book leaves no doubt as to the value and importance of insects, and portrays an extremely positive attitude about insects that stimulates the desire to know more about these amazing creatures. The illustrations in this large-format book are absolutely magnificent - they are scientifically accurate, nicely detailed, and artistically appealing. Many of the illustrations are so detailed, you might think you're looking at photographs instead of artistic drawings.

Both Sides Now. Written by Joni Mitchell, illustrated by Alan Baker, and published by Scholastic, Inc., New York. The title and "author" of this book might ring a familiar chord with many adults, and most can sing (or at least hum) this classic song of the late 60s. The words of singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell and the drawings of illustrator Alan Baker have been blended together to create one of the best children's books of all times. This book features two lovable caterpillars who demonstrate that both clouds and life appear differently when seen from different viewpoints. The message to children (and adults!) is that change is an important aspect of everyone's lives, and that personal "metamorphosis" is a wonder to behold. The concept of metamorphosis and personal self- worth in a children's book is not new, but the adaptation of this classic song to the story of metamorphosis is done so perfectly that this book is bound to become a classic as well. Alan Baker's illustrations bring the book to life through exquisite detail, endless variety and great appeal to children. The illustrations are superbly coordinated with the words and add immeasurably to the value of this book. The wide variety of insects seen in this book prompt the reader to examine all the pages closely, discovering fascinating "bugs" with every glance. You even get a glimpse of where insects go when it rains, and the many marvelous moths appearing on a moonlit night. More importantly, the message is clear that the young caterpillar has its own self worth, and is not dependent upon becoming an adult butterfly to achieve self worth. What message could be more important than this for today's kids?

Michael Berenstain's Butterfly Book. Written and illustrated by Michael Berenstain and published by Western Publishing Co., Inc., Racine, Wisconsin. This book has a variety of information on butterflies, including neat facts and humorous remarks. It offers a good selection of factual, scientific information on some common butterflies. The illustrations are particularly valuable because they compliment and support the facts stated on each page. This kid-friendly book, with its' easy-to-read text, fun facts, colorful illustrations, and butterfly outline, is exactly the kind of book you'd want your youngest butterfly enthusiasts to have.

1993

Dragonfly. Written by Emery Bernhard, illustrated by Durga Bernhard and published by Holiday House, New York. This book provides detailed and accurate information about the lives of dragonflies with a text that has been brought down to an early childhood level. While this book serves as a great introduction to the complete story of dragonflies - life cycle, behavior, folklore, and beneficial activities, it also provides information beyond a simple introduction and encourages children to expand their thinking about the importance of dragonflies. Statements like "Dragonflies never hurt people" and "Sometimes they even help people by catching insects that sting or bite" encourages young readers to stop and think about these wonderful animals. The illustrations are elegant, though accurate, and have good age appeal. The dragonfly "trail" that winds its way through the book helps compliment the storyline and emphasizes the interconnectedness of the information.

The Ultimate Bug Book. Written by Luise Woelflein, illustrated by Wendy Smith-Griswold, and published by Western Publishing Co., New York. This book lives up to its billing and has a great combination of insect information along with great appeal for children. The heart of the book are the amazing full-color, three-dimensional pop-ups featuring many fascinating insects from around the world. As readers examine the pages closely, they discover three other unique features of this book: a scratch and sniff stink bug, a fuzzy moth body, and an electronic cricket chirper! The informative text explains how insects live, eat, defend themselves, and reproduce (and has been checked for accuracy by consultants from the Smithsonian Institution).

Entomology (Real Kids/Real Science Series). Written by Ellen Doris, with original photography by Len Rubenstein, and published by Thames and Hudson, New York. This book presents lots of information on methods for studying insects through a wide variety of investigative activities including observing metamorphosis, exploring a pond, raising insects, making a collection, and more. The purpose of the book is to provide children between the ages of nine and fourteen with the tools, techniques, and encouragement to explore the natural world of insects for themselves. The information given in the book is based upon the program at the famous Children's School of Science in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. While the book is project oriented, it also provides a great deal of background information on insect natural history. The color photographs are an integral part of the book. They show many different types of insects, as well as pictures of kids in the process of studying insects. It's worth noting that the vast majority of young subjects shown in the photographs are girls; this demonstrates that the study of insects is appropriate for both girls and boys and encourages young girls to consider a career in the life sciences and/or entomology.

Fire Race. Written by Jonathan London, illustrated by Sylvia Long, and published by Chronicle Books, San Francisco, California. This book, inspired by a legend of the Karuk people of the American west coast, brings to life the Wise Old Coyote (a trickster-hero), his animal friends (Eagle, Cougar, Fox, Bear, Measuring Worm, Turtle and Frog), and the Yellowjacket sisters. The story of how the Animal People steal fire from the Yellowjacket sisters is a dramatic tale of bravery and cooperation that will keep any reader on the edge of their seat. It is interesting to note that the story works on several intellectual levels, and will entertain and educate readers of all ages. The illustrations of Sylvia Long are incredibly detailed, life-like, and seemingly jump off the pages. They capture the setting and traditions of the Karuk people in glorious detail.

Caterpillars of North America (Peterson First Guides). Written and illustrated by Amy Bartlett Wright and published by Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, Massachusetts. This book fills a long-standing need that has gone unattended for many years: a simple guide to the caterpillars of common butterflies and moths of North America.

This First Guide is filled with factual, scientifically accurate information and superb artistic illustrations. The illustrations are particularly valuable because they not only show the caterpillars, but also the foodplants, pupae (chrysalides and cocoons), and adults. This naturalist-friendly book, with its' easy-to-use identification key, simple text, and colorful illustrations, is exactly the kind of book that every youth and adult amateur butterfly and moth enthusiast needs in their reference library. This is a great resource and is clearly deserving of recognition.

1994

Creepy Crawlies. Written by Michael Chinery, illustrated by Ian Jackson, and published by Larousse Kingfisher Chambers Inc., New York, NY. This unobtrusive little book is a superb introduction to the minibeast world of insects, spiders, worms, and snails for children between the ages of 4 and 6. It is filled with brief, but highly accurate, tidbits of information on the minibeasts children are most likely to encounter. The book also offers suggestions for some interesting activities and encourages parents to get involved in helping their children get the most out of the books text and illustrations.

Flies Are Fascinating. Written by Valerie Wilkenson and published by Children's Press, Chicago, IL. This addition to the "Rookie Read-About Science" series takes a seemingly lackluster insect topic and presents it in an easy to understand, upbeat fashion. Flies, after all, have a less that ideal reputation among humans - but after reading this book children will come to appreciate that all types of flies have important roles to play on our planet.

The text is accompanied by full-color photographs, a picture dictionary and a simple index.

Scorpions. Written by Conrad J. Storad and published by Lerner Publications Co. Minneapolis, MN. This award-winning book, a part of the Early Bird Nature Book series, was designed to help youngsters see scorpions up close (through absolutely remarkable full-color photographs) and to help them learn more about scorpions through informative, easy-to-read text. However, don't be fooled by the term "easy-to-read" - this book is overflowing with facts and information on scorpion natural history. (So much so that even adults will learn many new facts about scorpions!) Whatever your age, from 6 to 60, if you want to know more about the secretive world of scorpions, this book is highly recommend.

The book is divided into four chapters (introduction, the stinger, feeding and defense, and family life); it also has a glossary and an index. There are also two special pages of notes for parents (and teachers) with some great suggestions for sharing the book with young people, as well as suggestions for additional activities.

1995

Bagging Big Bugs. Written by Whitney Cranshaw and Boris Kondratieff and published by Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, CO. If you live in, or plan to visit, the Rocky Mountain region (northern New Mexico to southern Canada) you won't want to be without a copy of this truly unique insect guide. The primary purpose of this guide is to help you seek out the largest and most colorful insects, spiders, ticks, scorpions, sowbugs, and centipedes in this region by providing you with detailed information on their life history, habits, and distribution. With a guide book like this your collecting skills (and resultant catch of impressive arthropods) will improve at least 100 fold. The book is also filled with lots of useful information on collecting methods, pinning, labeling, and displaying insects (making collections), and insect identification. In case you are interested in keeping your captives alive, there is excellent advice given on rearing techniques for many of the arthropods discussed in the book.

In addition to the informative text there are more than 200 B & W photographs and many line drawings. The appendices will help you locate entomology organizations, museums, entomology departments, and sources of collecting supplies, as well as useful references. As if this weren't enough the book is also equipped with a glossary, a pronunciation guide, and an index! I expect that this guide will serve as a model for future guides to the arthropods of other regions.

A Look Inside Spiders and Scorpions. Written by Dr. Paul Hillyard, illustrated by Steve Johnson, Gary Slater, Alex Pang, and Andrew Barrowman, and published by Reader's Digest Young Families, Inc. as a Joshua Morris Book. This book weaves three unique ingredients (high-interest text, captivating color illustrations, and innovative, layered acetate sheets) into one totally fascinating book. This last attribute allows the reader to see the inner workings of two arachnids, the Mexican red-knee tarantula (Brachypelma smithi) and the emperor scorpion (Pandinus imperator), with "magical" acetate windows depicting the circulatory, digestive, respiratory, and reproductive systems. The remaining text and illustrations (which are arranged towards the top of each page) work in concert with the acetate windows by providing more detailed information on the biology and ecology of these fascinating arachnids.

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This educational resource was prepared by the Young Entomologists Society, 6907 West Grand River Ave., Lansing MI 48906-9131, phone/fax 517-886-0630, e-mail YESbugs@aol.com.  Support minibeast youth education - join Y.E.S. today!