There are more species of beetle than any other order of animals, representing a quarter of living creatures on this planet. Why it has taken them this long to get starring roles in a children’s book is a mystery, although their appeal to younger readers is not. From a tiny ladybird alighting on a thumb, to a shimmering violet ground beetle scuttling out from an upturned rock, they are ideal objects of study for any nascent naturalist; not too slimy and less likely to sting than some other creepy-crawlies. And yet in literature it is other insects that have grabbed the top jobs so far. Aesop granted an ant wisdom, EB White deployed the life cycle of a barn spider to heartbreaking effect and Roald Dahl transformed a centipede into a top ballooning companion in James and the Giant Peach. But the new kings of the insect library are surely the many splendid coleoptera scurrying over the pages of MG Leonard’s fizzing, delightful debut, winningly illustrated by Júlia Sardà.
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