Review: The Lizard War

Battle Bugs, Book One
By Jack Patton
Illustrated by Brett Bean
Available now from Scholastic
Review copy

Max falls into a strange book to find himself on an island inhabited by bugs - giant ones, since he shrunk when he fell.  The bugs are under attack by the reptiles, and Max's knowledge of biology might help them win their next fight.

I liked that THE LIZARD WAR, the first book in the new Battle Bugs series, takes a positive stance on bugs.  Max absolutely loves them, and the book points out some of the cooler facts.  It's a great way for young readers to learn about the world around them.  There is also interesting info about the lizards.  However, education is not the focus of the story.  There's lots of action - scorpion vs. lizard, spider vs. lizard, and more.  Max comes up with some clever tactics to help the bugs out.

THE LIZARD WAR is an easy reader chapter book.  It is a little simple for my first-grader niece, but not so simple that it didn't engage her.  The illustrations, about one per chapter, have a boldly appealing cartoon style.  I really liked that the illustrations give Max darker skin, a detail not mentioned in the text.

So far three Battle Bugs books are listed on Amazon.  The ebook versions are especially affordable.  At 128 pages they're longer than some other easy reader chapter books, providing plenty of story for readers with a long enough attention span for the challenge.