The next best thing to capturing and studying your own grasshopper is to read cool and interesting facts about it. This book utilizes the graphic organizer of a simple flow chart to show the life cycle of an Eastern Lubber Grasshopper from egg to a nymph to adulthood. The female grasshopper hatches these eggs in the fall and dies as winter begins. In the spring, the young nymphs must fend for themselves. This educational book continues with more interesting and useful facts that lead young entomologists to explore vocabulary found in the study of insects including the middle part of a grasshopper called the thorax or the ovipositor, the part females use to lay eggs, found at the end of the abdomen. They learn about being an herbivore or a vegetarian in the insect world. Grasshoppers munch on grass, crops, and other plants, and as they grow they become too big for their skin and shed or molt their skin. If the simple text does not give enough facts, check out the colorful and amazing photographs and illustrations that illustrate the life cycle of a grasshopper. No nonfiction book can be much use for research projects without a table of contents and index which help the reader to quickly look up particular facts for a report or share with others that are found appropriately at the front and back of the book. As an educator, I would recommend this book for any classroom or library. This book is part of the "Big Buddy Books Insects" series. Reviewer: Julia Beiker
