Review Detail

A short book that describes the life of the dung beetle and how it helps the environment, SMALL MIGHTY DUNG BEETLE is geared towards children ages 4-8. With a focus on the dung beetle, the book also looks at the other plants and animals of the African savanna and how the dung beetle interacts with them.

What I Loved:
With the help of a consultant, this book details the life of the dung beetle through the point-of-view of one in particular. This dung beetle is not named, but we follow her as she finds elephant dung and begins her journey. We follow her, learning more about the dung beetle and the savanna along the way, as she finds a mate, has children, and her children hatch and grow. It’s portrayed in such a simple, but effective way, allowing children to learn more about this creature and how it helps the environment around it.

There is a lot of information in this book. Most of it is directly focused on the dung beetle, but some of it also allows readers to learn information about life on the savanna. Information about the food chain and the Serengeti migration. It’s interesting to learn more about the world around you through the eyes of an often-overlooked creature.

The drawings in this book are quite technical, including little details about the dung beetle to really bring out its features. But the drawings are also beautiful, not featuring vibrant colors but more muted colors that allow readers to take in the environment. It adds to the experience of reading the book and the artist even includes a couple of scenes where children are encouraged to find the dung beetles in the art.

What Left Me Wanting More:
For a book that is meant for ages 4-8, it uses certain words at times that the readers may not understand. I encourage adults to help define these words to the readers, but it was disappointing to see how many words adults may have to define for the children in their lives. This is primarily tree in the italicized text.

Final Verdict:
Interesting but perhaps too challenging for the intended age range, SMALL MIGHTY DUNG BEETLE takes readers on an exploration of the African savanna through the eyes of a dung beetle. Detailed, beautiful art accompanies the story.