cover image Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad

Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad

Jacky Davis, illus. by David Soman, Dial, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8037-3419-7

It's the "first official Bug Squad playdate," and Lulu wants everything to go as planned. At the appointed Bug Squad base, the squad members (with basset hound Bingo in tow) demonstrate their powers: Dragonfly Girl can breathe fire (twirling a boa), Bumblebee Boy is as "fast as lightning," Butterfly Girl has smarts, and Ladybug Girl can fly, is super-strong, saves ants, and does cartwheels. But there's tension in the group when Ladybug Girl's exuberance comes across as bossiness. Soman and Davis sensitively convey the joys of creative play and the delicacies of children's social dynamics. Ages 3–5. (Mar.)