What a cute book full of interesting tidbits of bugs, butterflies, slugs and little creatures we often think little about. Each bug has something unique about it and I loved all the adorable illustrations this book offered! It is a perfect book for nature lovers. The wording and length of reading is easy, making it fun for young readers.
Thank you to the author and publishing house for a copy of this arc.

A very decent guide indeed to some select insects and other bugs and critters, packed into different chapters that reveal their talents for camouflage and mimicry, their exceptional way with evolving tricksy details, and more. The art goes for the realistic over the style, but has far too much life and variety to look dry and staid with it, the writing may be three or four small chunks but they're more detailed than those factoids whose correct reading order always eludes you, and this is a decently educational volume. It's full of the remarkable, from the chemistry of the bombardier beetle to the louse that replaces a fish's tongue as a parasitic entity, to … well, to lemurs – you'll have to read this to see why I include them. OK, a book like this does focus on the superlatives and leaves out so much that is much closer to home, but this is a great way to convey both evolution and the wonders of the bug world. It's actually been too long since I saw this quality and this measured use of research into the marvellous – therefore five stars.

My kids loved this one! It was informative and my youngest thought it was funny. Thank you NetGalley for continuing to provide books that my kids absolutely love.

What a fab book! Full of the world of creepy crawlies. Had me engaged throughout and feel it will be a real hit in my classroom, will be purchasing a set on publication day!

If you love to learn about bugs, and their strange tiny world, this book is for you!
Covering all the creepy crawlies, this book has all the best things to say about the world's largest group of known creatures!
The illustrations are gorgeous and helpful.

What stood out to me about Rafik’s book on bugs was that he didn’t want to start and stop on just talking about the bugs. The writing style that he has chosen, and even the words he has used are similar to that of teaching and conservation. He writes about the bugs with respect, and sometimes almost in awe of their presence on Planet Earth and how they have survived, adapted and undergone evolution to form complex relationships with other organisms and creatures. His love for bugs and their importance in our ecosystem is on display in all the pages of this wonderful book. The illustrations by Riley Samels are breathtaking, gorgeous — almost masking the very dreaded nature of some of these bugs. Thankfully, Rafik writes about how cautious one must be with bugs in nature, and I hope children and adult take that away from the book.
Don’t Squish the Bugs is divided into chapters, each focusing on highlighting the strengths of the bugs and the diversity they exude.
Masters of Disguise talks about creatures who use camouflage and mimicry to save themselves from predators — my personal discoveries of Orchid Mantis, and the Elephant Hawk Moth was amusing. Amazing Evolution talks about bugs who can adapt to any environment they are placed in — the Diving Beetle, whose body parts allow it create a water bubble to be able to breathe underwater, to my personal discovery of tardigrade, an indestructible bug! To the quiet Volcano Snail, found deep in the ocean, absorbing iron from the hydrothermal vents to create an iron shell for its protection.
Being a bug comes with its challenges and bugs have developed some Daring Defence mechanisms to deter their predators. The Bombardier Beetle with its chemical attack, or the Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, which emit a loud hissing sound mimicking a snake to ward off its attacker or my personal discovery, the colourful and joyful looking Banana Slug, which emits a poisonous slime if attacked, numbing the predator’s tongue and throat.
Record Breakers looked into how adapting to an hostile environment led to the evolution of superpowers in some bugs — Taurus Scarab Beetle can pull 1,141 times it own body weight of poo off the forest floor. That is about the same as a human pulling six double-decker buses full of passengers. My personal discovery was of the arachnid called Demodex Mite, which lives within human hair follicles — face and hair. Oh goody!
All Sorts of Relationships focuses on the equation every bug develops or has with its environment or another organism, perhaps a chance Rafik took to humanise the bugs in our eyes.
He has somewhat succeeded, I will not squish a bug, I will just push it aside, and walk away.
Thank you to Words & Pictures and NetGalley for the ARC

* Honest Review of ARC *

I will definitely be buying this book for my classroom when it releases! I loved the artwork and how much informational it is on the creatures that share space with us on earth and why they have purpose despite our human opinions!

My children love exploring in the backyard and learning about the small creatures that live among us. This book would've definitely been a well-loved and worn out book had it been a part of their childhood. The illustrations and descriptions are captivating and helped us learn about all the bugs and "minibeasts."

The table of contents divides the creatures into fun categories while the pages are filled with fun and interesting facts. Even my girls who are not always fond of bugs enjoyed Don't Squish a Slug.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an electronic review copy of The Bear-Shaped Hole by John Dougherty to review. #TheBearShapedHole #NetGalley #JohnDougherty

Another children’s book ARC. This one is definitely for older kids, I’d say at least 8. In all honesty, this was very boring to me but I’m not into bugs. This would be a great book for kids who love animals and creepy crawlies. It is very educational, does a great job of sharing all the positives of all these creatures and lovely illustrations.

What an amazingly informative read. Illustrations were gorgeous and the facts of each bug were fun! Will definitely be buying this book to gift to friends with kids.

Don't Squish a Slug is a nonfiction children's book about many different bugs. I enjoyed the beautiful illustrations, but I feel like the book could have been designed better to make information more accessible for children. As it is formatted, it reads a lot like a textbook, and I think it would be more helpful to have the information on each page better categorized and highlighted by topic. For this reason, I would probably choose one of the many, many other books on the market on this topic over this one.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group for gifting me with an ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Bugs hit these pages with an impressive parade of abilities and amazing facts, which show how splendid many of these tiny creatures really are.

Already the Table of Contents sets the stage for fun by dividing the presented bugs into categories such as 'Masters of Disguise', 'Daring Defense', and more. Each bug receives an entire page of well done illustrations, which not only highlight its special abilities and aspects, but put it in surroundings which touch upon its uniqueness. While there are a few well-known bugs, most are unique. So, there's sure to be new facts for even well-versed bug fans.

Unlike many insect books, these pages aren't only about facts but try to build a respect for the insect world. To do this, the author presents each one with a hint of awe and excitement, while bringing across the information. Still, it's not overly dramatic, either. The special attributes and facts surrounding each type of insect are delivered in short paragraphs placed over the page. These are written for the younger end of the middle grade audience, steer away from heavier jargon, and bring across the information with energy. It makes it easy to read and digest.

At the end of the book, there's a glossary with several terms and an index helps readers look up specific bug types, if desired.

This is one young bug fans and fact-curious readers are going to want to take a peek at.

Really nice and informative illustrated book, but when I read this kind of books to my students I prefer when there's pictures of the bugs too, that's why I give it 4 stars.

A fascinating insight into the hidden world of insects. There is so much interesting information to be gleaned here from the Owl Butterfly to the Orchid Mantis. I surprised myself by how intriguing I found the world of insects, particularly the masters of disguise section. I can think of several children and adults who will devour this.

Don't Squish a Slug is a beautifully illustrated book containing lots of great information for kids (and adults alike) who have interest in nature or bugs. I would recommend this book.

A very informative colourful book for children on insects. I learnt a lot from the book as an adult so it will be excellent for children who are curious about nature and insects.

When complex terms were used they were defined on the page and for more common less complicated terminology there is a glossary at the back which will greatly help little learners.

Often the book would also add in how those creatures benefit us and their place in the big wide world. I found it particularly interesting when it commented on how certain insects have inspired and developed our science.

This is such a cute and informational children's book. I can not wait to get this for my classroom.. Great illustrations paired with information in an engaging story.

It’s a very good sign when your eight year old trudges out of their room and casually starts discussing tardigrades and wasp larvae. All in all, DON’T SQUISH A SLUG is a delightfully illustrated, approachable book about the insect world that will leave your child’s mind buzzing (sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun!) with brand new knowledge. There is no better measure of a book’s impact than how often a young reader begins sentences with “Did you know…?” after reading it. This will be on our bookshelves and gifted to many fellow readers in our life. Libraries should plan m to stock many copies of this one! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. All opinions are entirely mine (and my young readers’) own.

This is a beautifully illustrated book encouraging curiosity, wonder, and respect for nature and her little creatures. I found it interesting and far from generic, and hope that it will find its way to thousands of little readers!

Don't Squish a Slug is a wonderfully illustrated children's encyclopedia that on top of being visually stunning presents the information in an accessible language that any kid can understand. This is actually a big deal because, as a bookseller, I've been shocked by how many science books aimed at kids are full of the scientific jargon and overly complex syntax of academic writing. The message of the book is also amazing - it talks of the importance of the little critters who might seem unimportant but actually help the environment in many amazing ways.