A review by snowelf
Bug Patrol by Denise Dowling Mortensen

4.0

This is not the type of books I will usually pick up at the library, my four year old actually brought it to me. However, we both ended up enjoying it. It follows a police man (bug) through a whole day, sort of like [b:Policeman Small|42448|Policeman Small (Mr. Small, #10)|Lois Lenski|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1169881244s/42448.jpg|3221508] (but more modern!) The text is in rhyme, catchy, clever, not dumbed down, and some of the vocabulary required explaining, such as "perpetrators" and "picket line". And the humor in the roach demonstrations was mostly lost on my son ... but it was funny. Luckily, speeding and partying aside, there are no "bad guys" in this book, and the even tempered Captain Bob is a real hero. The verse is rhythmic and regimented, much in the spirit of the patrol bug. If you're planning a read aloud, you might want to practice reading through it first, to get the rhythms right. We loved the refrain of "Wee-o, wee-o, wee-o, woo! Bug Mobile coming through". Coincidentally, we have a kid pop song at the house, playing with something similar. Finally, the illustrations by [a:Cece Bell|184459|Cece Bell|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] do a lot for this book. While I didn't initially care too much for the drawings, I really like the dot technique employed in the graphics, and it does make the book stand out quite a bit. So, I would normally have rated it 3.5 stars if I could, but considering how much my son enjoyed it I splurge a whole four of them.