Review Detail

The Dragonfly Defense (Battle Bugs #7)

Middle Grade Fiction 183

Watch out for crocodiles!

June 17, 2016 (Updated: June 04, 2026)

Overall rating

3.5

Plot

4.0

Characters

N/A

Writing Style

N/A

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

3.0

Max is enjoying his time at Camp Greenwood with his friends, but a giant yellow dragonfly keeps buzzing around him. It's been a wild since he has used his magical arthropod encyclopedia, but Max knows something is up. When he opens the book, the dragonfly goes into the pages, which has never happened before. Max travels to Bug Island as well and is pleased to see that there is a well constructed fort, and the bugs don't seem to be having any problems. Why did the dragonfly retrieve him, if all of the lizards have been taken care of? There are a few lizards around, and there are some battles against them, but the real threat comes when Max falls into the river and meets saltwater crocodiles! The lizards intend to use them as an armada, jeopardizing the safety of Bug Island! Can Max and the bug army find a way to neutralize the crocodiles before disaster befalls them?

Good Points

Bugs, like dinosaurs, space, and robots, are often a topic of great interest to young readers, so an adventure series with bugs as characters is a brilliant idea. While the reading level states that these are appropriate for 4th graders, strong readers in 2nd and 3rd grade will be able to handle the roughly 100 page books, since the print is large and there are a fair number of illustrations.

There is a lot of fighting and Max is frequently in dangerous situations, so this book is not for the sensitive reader. On the other hand, readers who make every stick they find into a sword will find the fast-paced action very much to their liking.

It's somewhat difficult to find early chapter books that have a lot of action and adventure but don't involved characters from movies of television, and even fewer that involve fantasy. Fans of Messner's Ranger in Time or Osborne's Magic Treehouse series will enjoy Battle Bugs, and will most likely be motivated to go on a bug hunt in the yard after reading the informational notes in the back.