The Fifth Annual GROG Arthropod Roundtable

hosted by Sue Heavenrich

Welcome to the Fifth Annual Arthropod Roundtable! Grab your cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and please help me welcome our guests. Christine Van Zandt’s book Milkweed for Monarchs fluttered off the shelves last year. Sara Levine’s Watching and Waiting: What Hatches from Nature’s Nurseries hatched out just a couple weeks ago. Penny Parker Klostermann’s newest book, The Spider Lady: Nan Songer and Her Arachnid World War II Army will be weaving it’s magic when it releases in a couple weeks. And Susan Edwards Richmond’s third book in the Community Science Counts series, The Great Pollinator Count, just released yesterday.

Some of you may know that insects are my passion. But they weren’t always. In fact, when I was a kid I was terrified of cockroaches. This could be because I could hear them skitter about in the air ducts, and occasionally a couple would drop out and land on me. The ultimate irony: my graduate research was on the behavior of … you guessed it – cockroaches!

That got me wondering whether arthropods were ever “scary” or “creepy-crawly” to other folks? So I asked a few:

Christine with monarch wings

Christine: I was that kid who picked up bugs. I didn’t really understand why kids (or adults!) would scream when, for example, they saw a spider. My parents deserve credit for that since they let me play outside in our large yards. In the back, we had an area that was an ivy “tunnel”—and who knows what lived in there—but it was my favorite place to read books.

Sara: Mostly not.  When I was growing up, I was the one in my family who came to the rescue for bugs found inside the house. When my sister would find a spider, she would yell, “Come and get it! I’m going to kill it!” and that was my cue to come running. I would carefully cover the bug with a glass, slide a piece of paper underneath and escort the arthropod safely outside

Susan:  The only arthropod  I’ve ever really had an ambivalent relationship with is the spider. (Well, and ticks, after we got a dog!) I’ve appreciated spiders’ skills and their niche in nature, but, in the past, preferred to view them with a little distance. I’ve definitely gotten  more drawn to insects and arthropods as a group, however, since I’ve been teaching nature preschool.  In addition to having fascinating life cycles, these animals are easy for young children to discover and observe up close in their environment.

Penny: Interestingly enough, spiders were the only arthropods that were scary to me. And they were very scary to me.  My arachnophobia slowly changed to respect as I did hours and hours of research on spiders to better understand Nan Songer's work. I learned that they avoid humans, whereas before I had the unfounded fear that they might come after me. I was fascinated by the many ways they use their silk and the different ways they hunt or capture prey.  Now, when a spider is nearby, I don't feel the need to flee or stomp. (Yes. Sorry! In my pre-respect past, stomping out of fear definitely happened.)

Me: I totally understand the stomping-out-of-fear response, and am happy that you and your local spiders are now in a relationship of respect. So what made you realize that you HAD to write this book?

Penny

Penny: When I first learned about Nan Songer, I immediately scoured the web (Ha! Couldn't resist.) to see if there was a children’s book about her. I was shocked to find there wasn't a book for children or adults. Besides being shocked, I'll admit that I was also thrilled that I could be the one to share her story. I felt like I'd struck gold in terms of an unsung hero. Her story is unusual and riveting! In order to harvest enough silk needed for crosshairs in scopes during World War II, she kept up to ten thousand spiders in a room in her home! That deserves ten thousand exclamation points instead of just one, right?  Even though my work on this book started in 2017, I've never lost enthusiasm about Nan's contribution to the war effort. I HAD to write this book to share Nan's story and due to my certainty that others would find her work as a home front hero as compelling as I do.

Susan: My passion for children participating in community science has continued to grow since the 2019 release of my first picture book, BIRD COUNT.  Young children are eager to explore their environment and are natural scientists, with their keen focus and propensity for questions.  But many children—and adults as well—are instilled with a fear of bees and other stinging insects, while often celebrating butterflies.  Respect and caution are healthy, but I wanted my readers to gain the same appreciation for all of our insect pollinators

When I learned that Georgia conducted an annual insect pollinator census, which includes schoolchildren, I knew this would be my gateway!  In founder and coordinator University of Georgia Extension’s Becky Griffin, I found the perfect mentor.  She was super knowledgeable and enthusiastic about a book that would engage young participants in the census. Becky and I are pairing up for two weeks of launch events following the book’s April 15 release. The Great Southeast Pollinator Census has now expanded to include four more states—North and South Carolina, Florida, and, most recently, Alabama.  May this notion of promoting a healthy pollinator population continue to grow!      

Sara: A number of things came together. Invertebrate eggs, egg cases, and galls are fascinating, but there is so little on this topic in picture books. I especially wanted to share information about galls, which are bumps formed from the tissue of a plant in which young insects or mites develop. These unique nurseries grow when a mother insect or mite puts down chemicals on the plant while she is laying her eggs. How cool is that?!  Galls come in interesting and unique shapes, and they are easy to find and identify once you know where to look.  The book includes beautiful photographs to introduce children to galls, as well as eggs and egg cases, and to what animals are growing inside of them.

I also wanted to write a lyrical book that emphasized an empathetic approach to learning about animals. Scientific learning is often taught with a focus on taking things apart to see what is inside and how things work. But what if we wait instead and see what happens?

Christine: When I found out that the western monarch was nearly extinct, I knew I had to do something about it. I grew up going to the California coast with my parents in the winter to see millions of monarchs overwintering in the trees. It was amazing. In 2020, there were fewer than 2000 butterflies; in 2024, only about 9000. That may not be enough individuals to sustain the population.

We’ve lost so many animals already and losing the monarch seems preventable if people plant milkweed. Like pandas or koalas, monarch caterpillars can only eat one kind of food: milkweed. There’s not much of found in nature anymore because we’ve cleared land for homes or farms. Home gardeners are reluctant to grow plants that aren’t perfect even though munched leaves mean caterpillars may make it into forming a chrysalis. Also, pesticide use harms a wide range of insects.

Me: What do you hope readers take away from reading your book?

Sara

Sara: I hope readers will come away with an excitement about insect eggs, egg cases, and galls, and that they head outside to search for them. And when they find them, I hope they will be patient and kind enough to observe them over time to see what hatches out.

Christine: I hope they want to help save this amazing animal and encourage their parents, schools, and neighborhoods to plant milkweed. If that’s not possible, then I hope kids share this information so that others, who can plant milkweed, may help out.

Penny: Nan's interest in insects and spiders began when she was a child and continued into her adult years. As an adult, she continued to call her research a "hobby" but, ultimately, her skills and knowledge led to a career that she enjoyed and that also contributed to the war effort. I hope young readers will realize that childhood hobbies and interests are not only enjoyable, but important. They impact their future by nurturing creativity, helping to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills and learning about time management. Who knows, a hobby or interest might even lead to a career, just as it did for Nan Songer.

Susan:   I hope that young children and their families will develop a fascination with the tremendous diversity of these insects—and that THE GREAT POLLINATOR COUNT will inspire them to go outside and observe their own local pollinators.  Another of my hopes is that this book will help people draw connections among all living things, and realize how important each one is to the health of our planet, and, consequently, ourselves.  Maybe readers will want to plant their own pollinator gardens at school or at home, contribute data to local and regional counts, or nurture a desire to learn more on the path to becoming stewards of their environment.  

Me:  As someone who’s been counting pollinators for the past 16 years with the Great Sunflower Project, I agree! I know that counting bees has made me more aware of the need to plant more pollinator flowers.

So … what can we do this Earth Day and every day to help make our world a better place for bugs?

Susan

Susan: Earth Day is the perfect time to launch an initiative with your children, whether you are a teacher, librarian, parent, or other educator or caregiver.  It’s never too early to start developing habits of observation and care that can continue all year and  throughout a lifetime.  Growing and observing the life cycle of a garden or a garden insect, conducting counts, developing research projects or presentations, or writing letters to advocate for local conservation efforts are all wonderful ways to honor our friends the arthropods and improve all of our lives.  

Christine: Hearing bad news isn’t fun, but if we take a moment to realize our impact on the planet then, maybe, we will do one thing to help out the animals and plants we share our world with. Delving into this kind of information can be overwhelming and saddening. I tell myself that I can’t change everything but I can change something.

Penny: Learning what arthropods contribute to our environment is a good first step. In the case of spiders, eating insects is their main contribution. Did you know that spiders eat four hundred million to eight hundred million tons of insects each year and that a single spider eats around two thousand insects a year! By controlling the insect population, spiders reduce the need for chemical pesticides. Spiders also minimize the spread of disease since many of the insects they eat carry diseases that are harmful to humans and animals. 

This Earth Day, make your yard spider-friendly by planting tall sturdy plants to give them a place to spin. Provide a water source such as a bird bath. A thin layer of mulch, leaves or grass clippings will help protect them from the elements. These tips will also attract other insects that contribute to the environment and  will provide plenty of meals for the spiders.

Sara:  Please don’t use pesticides on your yard. Encourage native plants to grow, which provide food and shelter for native bugs. And when you see a bug inside you can’t live with, don’t kill it. Instead, go get a glass and a piece of paper to help safely bring it outside. 

Me: I know I could talk bugs all day long, but my coffee cup is empty. Please drop by our websites and blogs, and remember to go outside and get to know some awesome arthropods.

Flutter over to Christine Van Zandt website at christinevanzandt.com 

Penny Parker Klostermann has spun her website at  pennyklostermann.com  

Sara Levine nurtures stories and more at www.saralevinebooks.com

Susan E. Richmond counts bees at www.susanedwardsrichmond.com

I hang my bug net over at www.sueheavenrich.com

The Fourth Annual GROG Arthropod Roundtable

 by Sue Heavenrich

Welcome to the Fourth Annual Arthropod Roundtable! Today's guests are: Susannah Burman-Deever, whose book Before the Seed came out last month; Helen Frost, whose book The Mighty Pollinators also released last month; Loree Griffin Burns, whose book One Long Line hits the shelves next month; Amy Hevron, whose City of Leafcutter Ants will be out near the end of June; and Megan Litwin, whose first two chapter books in the Dirt and Bugsy series were published last summer.

I’ve spent many hours following ants and counting bees. Even so, my relationship with the local insect community is … complex. Sure, I love watching the pollinators in my garden but there are some arthropods who truly bug me. Especially when they stab their blood-sucking proboscis in my earlobe!

Me: How you relate to the arthropods living in your neighborhood. 

Amy Hevron

Amy: I love nature and am fascinated by all the little critters that live outside. Sometimes they come inside too, mostly cute little doodle bugs and lady bugs. And sometimes we get giant spiders in the house as well. I’m a little scared of spiders but know they’re helpful to have around. So I usually talk to them to try to convince them to go hide somewhere. 

Megan: I grew up a book and animal lover…but not exactly a bug lover. I had such an intense fear of spiders that I would refer to them as “you-know-whats” rather than saying the name aloud! Over time I changed my mind because I learned more about bugs and spiders – first as a second-grade teacher who taught an insect unit every year, and then as a mother of two boys who loved dirt and bugs from the start. That fear was slowly replaced with awe and wonder as I realized arthropods are fascinating! It is amazing how getting to know something (or someone…) can change your perspective.

Helen: I have always loved insects. As I have moved from one neighborhood to another, I have kept my little patches of earth free of pesticides and herbicides, and have delighted in watching the little friends who share my space. I plant milkweed and nectar flowers for the migrating monarchs. I love the flashes of color all the butterflies bring, and the bright green beetles that sometimes cross the table as I am eating my lunch outdoors. In the summer evenings, fireflies light up my backyard as cicadas emphatically let us know when they are with us! I know that most of the insects are staying hidden from me most of the time, but I do what I can to increase the possibility of our close encounters.

Loree: I’m a former scientist who now works as a writer and a writing teacher. I write about science! The natural world! And curious people—young and old—who are passionate about both. I’m an enthusiastic amateur naturalist and entomologist, and I’m fascinated by the incredible variety of insects living their strange and beautiful lives all around me. I’m grateful for access to green spaces in which I can watch these lives unfold and libraries in which I can research what others have learned about those lives, too. And, of course, I’m also grateful to have a job that sometimes involves sharing what I learn about my neighbor arthropods through books and essays for readers of all ages.

Susannah Burman-Deever

Susannah: In college, I was lucky enough to work with a scientist who was studying how swarms of honey bees search for and decide upon a new home. I spent a couple of summers sitting beside swarms and tracking the dancing as the bees told the others about their finds. I no longer study insects professionally, but I’m lucky enough to have a pretty big yard to play and garden in. Over time, I’ve been adding habitat for insects, with areas for nesting and more and more flowering plants and native shrubs. The insect diversity in my yard has definitely boomed. I love watching all the different insects in my gardens, from orchard bees to gorgeous green sweat bees to hummingbird moths. It’s a wonderful reminder that there is a whole world of amazing creatures just outside our doors.

Me: I always want to know how authors come to write their book. Was there a specific question or thought that grabbed you and wouldn’t let you go until you wrote about it?

Helen: The Mighty Pollinators is my eighth book about the natural world, and my seventh collaboration with photographer Rick Lieder. We settled on this topic during the early days of the pandemic when small children were baffled by the fact that something as small as a virus could upend their world so dramatically. We tried to think of things that are very tiny, but not quite invisible, and also important, and we settled on pollen and began thinking of how to make it seen and real to children.

Megan: Bugs are cool! Kids love bugs! I saw this natural curiosity and connection with bugs as a teacher when we raised and released butterflies in my second-grade classroom. Kids loved getting up close and personal with the caterpillars and then witnessing the magic of metamorphosis right before their eyes. I saw it again as a mom when my boys would spend hours playing in our backyard. They would catch bugs. Name them. Build whole cities for them with friends. I have them all to thank for the Dirt and Bugsy books!

Loree Burns (photo by Carter Hasegawa)

Loree: One day when they were very young, my twin sons found a new-to-us caterpillar (we did not know what kind it was) crawling across the grass of our back yard. They wanted to keep it as a pet, which I’m generally okay with. “But,” I told them, “we have to figure out what it eats.” All caterpillar species have a host species—a plant or related group of plants on which the adult butterflies/moths of that species lay their eggs and which those caterpillars eat. So they followed it around the yard until they caught it eating something. The view from my kitchen window: a tiny caterpillar crawling through a grassy lawn and two small boys on their hands and knees, crawling behind it. Later, I learned about Jean-Henri Fabre who studied the pine processionary caterpillars that travel form one place to another in long, single-file lines … I wanted to share that story.

Amy: I first became fascinated with leaf cutters ants while on a hike in Costa Rica. We saw this long parade of little ants carrying leaves down the trail. The ants were all different sizes. I just had all these questions. Where were they taking the leaves? Why were they different sizes? Did they eat the leaves? I started researching them and felt like this could be a really fun book.

Susannah: The inspiration for this book comes from my garden. Caring for my garden feeds my soul, and I find a lot of joy in learning about the relationships between the plants and animals around me. I wanted to write a book that celebrates the beauty and diversity of those relationships, and explore how the needs of both plants and animals have shaped the pollination process.

Me: How do you bring your passion for this topic to writing for children?

Susannah: I’m endlessly curious about the living world. It makes me feel small in the best possible way: that there is always more to discover about the world around us. And being curious means looking and asking questions. So with this book, I started with something that children might have noticed (that there are lots of different types of flowers in the world) and asked why. Why are there so many different types of flowers? Why do they have different shapes and colors and scents? The book is structured as a series of questions, with answers that lead to more questions. Which is really what science is all about. 

Loree: For One Long Line, I wanted to share my passion for the scientific method and how we humans use it as a tool to learn about the world we live in. And the story I used to demonstrate all that? The story of those pine processionary caterpillars and the man, Jean-Henri Fabre, who studied the ones living in his own backyard. The experiments he did helped us understand how and why these unusual caterpillars march in lines the way they do. One Long Line is beautifully illustrated by Jamie Green. (https://www.jamiegreenillustration.com/)

Helen Frost (photo by Tim Andersen)

Helen: Three things I love – insects, children, and poetry – come together in the creation of this book. I bring the topic to life through details and the delight of language! And I continue to learn as I think about how to bring the importance of pollination to the attention of children as I share this book with them.

Megan: Two things I happen to be passionate about are nature and unstructured play. I got to blend what I know about kids and bugs from my own life with themes of nature, imagination, and problem-solving. I also brought my teacher heart to the table because these books are written for kids learning to read on their own. That is another passion of mine…literacy education! I used simple sentences and vocabulary along with purposeful repetition so that a newly independent reader could find success. I hope these books encourage kids to be both book lovers and bug lovers. Bookworms, in the best sense!

Amy: I’ve always been interested in ants and how they live in colonies. I love those little ant farm kits – and had one once, until all the ants got out! Leaf cutter ants are especially interesting to me with the complexity of their society. And from a visual perspective, as an illustrator, I knew it would be fun to illustrate the underground nest with all the chambers and pathways. And show all the ants with their different jobs in their society.

Me: What can we – and the kids we write for – do this Earth Day and every day to help make our backyard and neighborhood a better place for bugs?

Loree: We can pay attention to bug lives and recognize that the places we live are the very same places they live. The decisions we make about how to manage those places matters: Mow the lawn, or let the grass grow? Rake up the leaves or let them rot in place? Share our garden with the neighborhood animals and insects? Or fight with those animals and insects over rights to the tomatoes? These are decisions that have real consequences for us and for the insects around us, though it’s only a matter of life and death for them. So my wish is that all of us will start to pay more attention to the arthropods in our lives, learn their stories by first-hand observation, share what we see and learn, and then keep those stories in mind as we make decisions about the land we share.

Megan Litwin

Megan: I think if we encouraged kids to get outside and to pay attention, all sorts of good things would happen…for both the arthropods and our Earth. Once you notice the incredible life teeming around you, you are more likely to take care of it. I’ll say what I say at the end of Dirt and Bugsy readings. Go outside. Look for bugs. Build bug houses. Plan a nature scavenger hunt. Find tiny things. Find shiny things. Plant things. Just get out and explore your world!!

Amy: Most people don’t really want more ants near their homes but something fun to do for other insects on Earth Day could be to plant some native flowering plants in your yard for your local bees and butterflies.

Susannah: So often we think of people and nature as being separate from each other. But we are a part of the ecosystem. We are connected to all the living things around us. What can we do to help? Maybe plant native plants. Maybe leave some leaves unraked in the fall to provide wintering habitat for insects. Even if you don’t have your own yard, you can work with neighbors in community gardens to promote insect habitat. Only by seeing what’s out there can we answer the question of how we can help protect the life that surrounds us every day.

Helen: I treat little ones (both insects and children who observe them) with respect and affection. I plant a garden to be welcoming to insects and other pollinators, and I share information with neighbors who may question why we don’t mow our lawn in early spring, why we let dandelions and clover and violets grow, why we let the milkweed remain even when it may no longer be seen as beautiful. When, as happens each spring, a salesman goes door-to-door offering to rid our neighborhood of “creepy crawlies,” I alert the neighbors to all the good we receive from insects, and try to educate the salesman that it is not possible to kill some insects without harming all of them, and in turn harming ourselves.  

Me: I know I could talk about arthropods all day long! But my coffee cup is empty and it’s a perfect day for bug-watching and flower-planting. Please drop by our websites and blogs, and remember to go outside and make friends with members of another phylum.

Susannah Burman-Deever https://www.susannahbuhrmandeever.com

Helen Frost  https://www.helenfrost.net/

Loree Griffin Burns https://loreeburns.com/

Amy Hevron  https://www.amyhevron.net/ 

Megan Litwin     https://www.meganlitwinbooks.com/

 

The Third Annual GROG Arthropod Roundtable

hosted by Sue Heavenrich

 

Welcome to the Third Annual Arthropod Roundtable! This year I’ve got a whole new bunch of folks who have books featuring bugs of one sort or another: Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan, who wrote Animal Allies: 15 Amazing Women in Wildlife Research which came out about a year ago; Betty Cully, author of the novel The Natural Genius of Ants, which came out last year; Fran Hodgkins and her humorous buggy picture book, In a Patch of Grass published last month; Mary Boone who may or may not eat Bugs for Breakfast, which came out about 18 months ago; Sue Fliess, whose Cicada Symphony hits shelves next month. Even my new picture book, The Pie that Molly Grew (releasing mid-August) includes a cameo for busy buzzy pollinators.

I’ve been counting pollinators as a citizen science volunteer for the Great Sunflower Project since … wow! This will be my 15th summer! I love to follow bumble bees and other bees as they make their way from one flower to the next. And here’s the thing about pumpkins: they absolutely depend on bees to pollinate their flowers. No bees, no pie! I really love pie, so I wanted to write something that included bees as an essential part of the story.

And that got me wondering why – and how – other folks ended up writing books about bugs. So I asked ‘em.

Fran: As a kid, I used to watch ants, roly-polies, and spiders in the back yard; they never scared me like they did some people. I watched Jacques Cousteau and Marlon Perkins all the time on TV. Living in the city, insects and birds were the closest I could get to wildlife (well, there were squirrels, too) and I loved to watch them. Then I lived in Maryland for a little while, where I got to see insects that I’d never seen before, such as praying mantises and cicada killers, which are these huge wasps that prey on, you guessed it, cicadas! Fascinating stuff!

Betty: I live in rural central Maine on 85 acres of woods and fields. My middle grade and young adults novels are partly inspired by the nature right outside my front door or in my area. For instance, my first young adult verse novel, Three Things I Know Are True is set along the mighty Kennebec River, which runs through the towns near where I live. My inspiration for The Natural Genius of Ants was very close at hand! Every year in early summer, almost like clockwork, a line of ants makes its way into my house. The more I researched about ants, the more fascinated I became, which led to me keeping several ant farms and caring for a carpenter ant queen and her offspring. The ants in my book are a little more extraordinary than the ones that visit my house, but those are also still pretty amazing!

Elizabeth: I love animals and I had all kinds of pets when I was young, but now I prefer enjoying animals in their native habitats. I have an insect hotel in my garden and I really appreciate all the local pollinators. I think one of my most memorable insect encounters was when a friend asked me to babysit her monarch butterfly caterpillars!! I had to feed and clean and watch over 20 different caterpillars for her. It was truly a lot of fun.

Mary: I’m a naturally curious person so, when my daughter and I traveled to Vietnam and Cambodia a few years ago, trying roasted insects was on the list of things I wanted to do. I did it. I went home, told people about it, and didn’t really envision ever eating them again. But then I started to think about the fact that people were eating bugs in other places on a regular basis. So I started doing research: Where were they eating bugs? Why were they eating bugs? How long had people been eating bugs? Which bugs were they eating? And I quickly learned there’s a name for the practice of eating bugs or insects: entomophagy.

Sue: As a young girl, I was always interested in nature, and watched those cool nature programs on TV with my dad. I had a toy called a Bug Eye, a box with a magnifying glass built in on top so you could observe the insects you caught, before releasing them, of course.  My first experience with cicadas was in 2014 when we moved from California to Northern Virginia. I had heard of them, but never seen one in the wild. There was one in my backyard and I remember thinking it was enormous! I also thought it was dead, and when I got close to it and tried to flip it over with a leaf, I got the surprise of a lifetime. It made a loud buzz and flew right past my head! I may or may not have shrieked. These would come in small numbers every year, but when we heard that a brood was about to emerge in 2021, Brood X (a 17-year brood), I got very excited! That bug-loving girl was "emerging." After many walks with my husband observing the brood, he encouraged me to write about them. So I gave it a shot!

Me: I usually write nonfiction, so I was surprised when The Pie that Molly Grew came out of my pencil as a story about a girl and a seed. How did you find your way to your book?
 

Sue: I write picture books, so I knew Cicada Symphony would be a picture book. And the cicada lifecycle is mysterious and fascinating, so I knew I wanted it to be nonfiction. We literally walk above these creatures for years until they emerge. There was something strange and creepy about that, at least to me! I did a ton of research, and when the first line came to me, it set the tone for a rhyming book: Bugs are lurking down below.

Fran: I began In a Patch of Grass while I was at a Highlights retreat a long time ago. In its original version it was a very quiet book – 180 degrees from what the finished book is. It was lovely, but … boring. I had it in my files for a long time before I dug it out and shared it with Tilbury House. I decided to rewrite it and pulled out all the stops and just had fun.  Being a journalist demanded that I write in a very particular way, to be impartial and serious. So embracing my goofy self in the rewrite of Patch was very freeing!

Elizabeth: I love writing for middle grade because it is the same age of reader that I was when I started writing my own stories. Some of my favorite books from that time in my life were biographies, and especially biographies of incredible women. I used to imagine myself not flying around the world or discovering a new element, but instead creating a book about a person like that – a book readers would read it over and over and over again. Writing Animal Allies was like making a childhood dream come true! And I really liked being able to write about so many different scientists.

Mary: Bugs for Breakfast is middle-grade nonfiction. As I was doing research, I kept coming across facts that blew my mind. Facts about how the U.S. government regulates how many insect parts can be in foods we’re already eating and how much water it takes to produce a pound of beef (1,800 gallons) versus a pound of crickets (1 gallon). As a kid, I loved learning stuff like that – I still do – so I knew I wanted to share as much as I could in an accessible but factual way. But I also want to make sure no one is eating bugs from their own yards or garages. You need to know how a bug lived and how it died before you eat it.

Betty: I've always loved reading middle grade books, even as an adult, maybe because they contain truths about what it means to be human. Growing up, those 'middle-grade' years felt like a time when anything was possible and the world was filled with mystery and magic. It was also a time I felt very much connected to the natural world around me.                               

Me: Insects and their arthropod kin are facing tremendous environmental pressures from habitat destruction to climate change. What can we – and the kids we write for – do this Earth Day and every day to help make our backyards and neighborhoods a better place for bugs?

Mary: In my own yard, I avoid using pesticides and harsh chemicals. If I have an aphid problem, for example, I bring in some ladybugs who will help control them. To keep bugs away from our deck, I plant borders of marigolds; they’re pretty and they have a distinctive smell that repels mosquitoes and other pests.

Fran: Even though my book is called In a Patch of Grass, I’m not actually a big fan of lawns. They’re not suited for the climate we have in North America, and as a result they require a lot of resources – water, nutrients,  and so on – while they crowd out native species. I love our yard, with its wild plants, including lots of milkweed. Seeing the caterpillars of all sorts makes me so happy every year.

Betty agrees with avoiding pesticides and herbicides. She adds: Kids can encourage their parents to avoid those chemicals. Also, planting perennials that benefit pollinators is always a fun and rewarding thing to do. If you live in the city, you could get involved in protecting and taking care of green spaces, and be part of a community garden.

Elizabeth: I try very hard to create a welcoming place for my insect neighbors. We don’t use pesticides, and I try to talk to my human neighbors about not using pesticides. As I mentioned, I have an insect hotel in my garden and I try to plant native plants that support insects. I think everyone can do a better job protecting habitats for insects and we can start in our own yards.

Sue: Be careful where you are digging, even if you are planting something. In the case of cicadas, you could dig up larvae and not even know it, so do a bit of research on what insects are native to your area so that you are aware. And of course, we all know pesticides are dangerous not only for the plants and pets, but honey bees and butterflies too. So let’s go organic whenever possible!

Me: I know I could talk about arthropods all day long! But my coffee cup is empty and it’s a perfect day for bug-watching and flower-planting. Please drop by our websites and blogs, and remember to go outside and make friends with members of the jointed-appendage phylum.

Find out more about Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan at https://elizabethpagelhogan.com
Betty Cully wrangles ants and words at www.bettyculley.com
Check what’s rustling in the tall grass with Fran Hodgkins at www.franhodgkins.net
You’ll find more than bugs on the menu at Mary Boone’s site www.boonewrites.com
Buzz on over to Sue Fliess at www.suefliess.com
I hang my bug net at www.sueheavenrich.com