Review by Booklist Review
Ages 6^-9. Cannon, who made a bat (Stellaluna) and a snake (Verdi) appealing, sympathetic characters, works her magic again in this jungle adventure starring a conflicted cockroach and a crew of plucky leaf-cutter ants. Crickwing (his name comes from a near-death experience he had with a toad, which left one of his wings twisted) is a starving artist. He loves to create sculptures with his food, but he's too slow to fend off the sneak attacks of rain forest predators who swipe his work. Feeling isolated, despised, and hungry, he takes out his anger on the busy, successful leaf-cutter ants, who capture Crickwing, intending to offer him to the voracious army ants. After his captors take pity on him at the last moment, Crickwing joins the leaf-cutters in an ingenious ruse to rout the army ants. Cannon's artwork, in acrylics and pencil, is as bright as a photo flash, magnifying the actions of the tiny denizens of the world under the rain forest canopy. It also captures quick movements: action shown in full-page color paintings is continued and forwarded in a black-and-white illustration on the facing page. It's a gripping story that also works as an inspiring lesson in compassion. Cannon concludes with "Cockroach Notes" and "Ant Notes." --Connie Fletcher
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A cockroach with a crooked wing begins picking on creatures smaller than himself and is sentenced to be served up to the army ants-but a few rebels have a change of heart and set him free. PW called this "an amusing tale lightly rooted in natural history. The illustrations skillfully blur the line between fact and fancy." Ages 6-9. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4-In her latest picture-book creation, Cannon introduces Crickwing, a cockroach with a wounded wing. This basically sweet-natured creature becomes a bit of a bully when he discovers how easy it is to play tricks on a colony of worker ants. When faced with outside danger, however, he uses his creative talents to help his industrious friends. The most striking aspect of the book is the acrylic and Prismacolor-pencil artwork. As with Stellaluna (1993) and Verdi (1999, both Harcourt), Cannon's drawings are exacting-a true marriage of fact and fiction. The cockroaches and ants are precise enough for an entomology textbook, while the lush colors and beautifully realized facial expressions are so reader friendly that even very young children will be enchanted. Unfortunately, the text falls short in comparison. The story is too wordy and somewhat stilted, making it difficult to use as a read-aloud. For older students, the scientific explanations of various species of cockroaches throughout the world may be helpful, but will diminish the storybook quality of the book.-Barbara Buckley, Rockville Centre Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Repeatedly thwarted by larger animals who steal his food, a disabled cockroach named Crickwing decides to take out his frustration by bullying those who are smaller--the leaf-cutting ants. Despite remorse for his bad behavior in the end, Crickwing's whining and grumbling make him an unsympathetic character. Facts about roaches and ants conclude the book, which is illustrated with large, detailed acrylic artwork as well as black-and-white vignettes. From HORN BOOK Spring 2001, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Continuing in the lapidary visual style that made hits of Stellaluna (1993) and Verdi (1997), Cannon illustrates this tale of a hard-luck jungle cockroach with exquisitely detailed and realistic ground-level views that seem to glow from within. Crickwing, so dubbed after a near-fatal encounter with a toad, likes to play with his food, constructing faces or whole animals, and becoming so absorbed that all too often some predator arrives before he can chow down. Finally he begins taking out his annoyance by bullying a column of smaller leaf-cutter antswhereupon the leaf-cutter queen orders him seized and left as a sacrifice to the army ants. Saved from certain destruction by two kind-hearted leaf-cutter workers, Crickwing repays them by designing a giant anteater made from vegetation. Its appearance causes the army ants to flee in panic. Though Cannons art is far different in technique from James Marshalls, there is a certain similarity in the way both can pack worlds of expression into eyes that are little more than dots. The insects here may be more or less accurately drawn, but they all have distinct personalities too, and their faces (as well as the occasional drawing of bugs strutting or madly fleeing) will have children laughing in all the right places. Moreover, his wing healed by the end, Crickwing is not only a hero, but an elegant, graceful beauty as well. Readers may not lose their aversion to cockroaches, even with the authors informative, appreciative closing notes, but theyll enjoy the adventure. (Picture book. 7-9)
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
