Battle Bugs: The Lizard War

Title: Battle Bugs: The Lizard War

Author: Jack Patton

Illustrator: Brett Bean

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Year: 2015

Summary: Max takes an amazing trip to Bug Island, the only catch is that he is the same size as the bugs. He escapes being eaten and then helps a scorpion fight off a lizard attack. He convinces the scorpion that he can help the bugs using his big brain, so the scorpion takes him to the bugs’ headquarters. He learns how Bug Island was connected to the Lizard Land after a volcano fused the lands together. Now the bugs only hope for survival from the lizards is to cross a river to the other side. The flying bugs could do it easily but the others cannot. Max plans an ant bridge which could support the lightest bugs. On the other side, some of the bugs ate through a tree so that it could fall across the river. The bigger bugs crossed the tree bridge. Then just before the lizards could get them, they pushed the tree into the river and it floated away. Now the bugs were safe, but Max was still their size. As they talked about how he got to be their size, they realized he had been looking at a map of their island through a magnifying glass. All he had to do was reverse the process and he was back to his normal size.

Literary Merit: Fast paced action adventure. Fantasy.

Kid Appeal: Boys especially would be drawn to this book, but I think a lot of girls would enjoy reading it just as much.

Disclaimer: This book was nominated for the 2015 CYBILS Award in the Early Chapter Book category. This review is shared as part of the Round One Judging. It is solely my own opinion and not influenced by any other parties.