Out in the Wild (Bug Scouts #1)

In this five-chapter comic for early readers, Lowery (I Don’t Want to Read This Book) introduces the Bug Scouts: “some kind of bug” Doug, worm Abby, grumpy spider Josh (“I just come for the free snacks”), and newbie Luna, a lightning bug. From their “super-duper secret headquarters,” the group embarks on a hike to earn one of 238 possible bug badges, this one for gathering plants to make into paint. They soon encounter a frog who, despite protestations to the contrary, clearly intends to eat them (it carries a knife, fork, salt, pepper, and a book entitled 101 Delicious Bug Recipes). But Josh, generally badge-averse, inadvertently saves the day: the web hammock spun by the spider for a nap traps the frog, and the rarest item on the Scouts’ foraging list turns out to be the very one Josh uses to deflect the frog’s tongue. With swarms of goofy jokes and adorable characters, the brief chapters fly by. Readers will most certainly be willing to affirm the first line of the Official Bug Scout Oath: “All bugs are awesome and that is a fact.” Ages 7–10. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Apr.)■