Beetles, Lightly Toasted
Written by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Reviewed by Kash C. (age 12)
Ahhh, 5th grade. One of favorite years at school (if you have already been there), and for Andy, it is his first, and only year, to enter the Roger B. Suderman essay contest. The Grand Prize is, well, you?ll figure that out (if you read it). With the first year?s topic being ?If You Had A Million Dollars, How Would You Spend It? and other cool topics like that, he just knows he is going to get a good one. But when the day comes for the announcement, the topic is a total bummer. He can?t think of any thing for the contest, and what?s worst, his cousin, and rival, Jake has tons of ideas. All until he sees a beetle crawling through the grass.
This book uses a lot of imagination, ideas, and interesting ingredients to make a very interesting book. The wacky ideas eventually get someone in trouble. In a way, this is like How to Eat Fried Worms. In that book, he has to eat worms, but he knows that he is eating them. In Beetles, Lightly Toasted, they don?t know that they are eating beetles. This book could remind everyone of one common idea: Creativity. This author's ideas are the most unique ever. Andy?s first idea is a boycott. When someone breaks it, he looks at the topic in a different way and learns a lot.
I would recommend this book for anyone, especially people who love to use their imagination. Andy uses his imagination so much you can't help but like the story.