Cover Image: The Cockroach

The Cockroach

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Member Reviews

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Elise Gravel is one of my favorite illustrators. Kids love this series! The Cockroach is a visually appealing, informative, and entertaining book for young readers!

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If you love to learn about odd creatures and get a huge dose of AWWE and EWWW at the same time, this is the book for you. Seriously though this was a fascinating and well illustrated book all about Roaches. Did I know that I needed to know about roaches? No, no I didn't. Am I upset that I am now a roach pro? No, No i am not.. a pro or upset.

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The Cockroach is the latest offering from award-winning author-cartoonist Elise Gravel, in her ongoing "Disgusting Critters" series. In the style of The Bat from the same collection, this is a nonfiction picture-book for new readers, this time presenting fun and facts about cockroaches. Complete with cute illustrations and kid-friendly, informative text, The Cockroach might even win the species some young fans who aren't bugged by these creepy-crawlies after reading all about them.

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I absolutely loved this book along with The Bat! I will be adding both of these titles to my classroom library (along with whatever other book that Elise Gravel has that is similar). This is the type of book my students love to read. They crave nonfiction information and who could not love learning about bugs!? I love the illustrations and the comments from the cockroach throughout the story. So fun!

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'The Cockroach' by Elise Gravel is a hilarious non-fiction book for young readers.

Just like in 'The Bat' we are introduced to a cartoon cockroach and we learn things about her. Things like distinctive traits and diet. What baby cockroaches look like and where to find them (and where to hopefully never find them).

I don't know that I gained any new appreciation for this species, but the book did make me smile as I read it. A younger version of myself into odd animals would have probably loved this book. The illustrations are fun.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Tundra Books, Penguin Random House Canada, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

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Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my review.

This was a cute nonfiction book about cockroaches. I liked how the author gave quick and easy to read facts throughout the story. Many students would enjoy this book and have an easy time understanding the information. The illustrations were very cute and brought personality to the cockroaches. This would be a great book at add to your elementary collection.

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*Received for free from netgalley for honest review* Kinda weird but cute too? I still don't like cockroaches..... but i'll admit I did learn a lot about them haha

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This sweet non-fiction book is just wonderful and very kid-friendly as is the whole series of "Disgusting Critters." Meet Diane, the cockroach, an adorable character even though she belongs to that dreaded species. Cockroaches are not the house guests you would desire because once they are inside it's extremely hard to get rid of them.

The talented author/ illustrator shines a light on the dreaded COCKROACH much to a cockroach's dismay because they hate light and emerge at night, in the dark, to do their dastardly deeds. They eat everything, deposit ghastly germs all around, can cause allergies and they produce stinky smells. Not quite the house guest you would desire to be under your roof or anywhere else inside your home.

The author gives fast, easy to understand, cockroach facts which are enriched by quirky, humourous asides by Diane. Giving her the ability to talk, and seeing her antics as she does, enables kids to remember the scientific information that the author doles out for the reader. It's quite ingenious and lots of fun!

The book talks about the lifestyle of the cockroach: physical traits, diet, running skills ( fastest among insects ), reproduction ability ( female can birth up to 350 babies during her lifetime), just to name a few.

I highly recommend this book as it both highly entertaining and is educational also. Kid's will love it! ( and adults too )

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Gravel's animal books are an interesting approach. They introduce us to misunderstood or reviled creatures in an accessible way. We are presented with an assortment of simple facts that might allow us to better appreciate the creature and it's role in the world. It is just a dozen or so facts but that makes it quite accessible for an early elementary reader.

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Only Elise Gravel could make cockroaches cute! This book has been cracking me up—it’s informative and funny, and I can’t wait for my students to read it!

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This book takes an adorable approach to teaching about a less-than adorable creature. I hate cockroaches, but I LOVED this book! I can't wait to order it for my kiddos.

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Even though I find cockroaches really weird, I loved reading this book. Definitely something kids can learn from and maybe appreciate this old thing.

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This is a fun way to learn about a rather unpleasant bug. The book is full of scientific facts, but it doesn't get boring and dry. The illustrations are filled with cockroaches with personality. They help keep it interesting.

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The Cockroach is a new nonfiction graphic art book aimed at younger readers in The Disgusting Critters series by Elise Gravel. Originally published in French in 2016, this English language translation is due out 4th Feb 2020 from Penguin Random House on their Tundra imprint, has 32 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

The art is whimsical and appealing (see cover), and the text is fact based and scientifically accurate. The info included in the book covers preferred habitat, diet, reproduction, and different species and ranges. I liked that the book includes proper nomenclature for things such as eggcase (ootheca) and omnivore. If the terms aren't already familiar to young readers (or adults), they can be researched.


This would make a super choice for classroom/public library, homeschool library, or gift. Really cute and worthwhile subject for young readers. The graphic design and interactive dialogue would also lend itself quite easily to a bedtime read. My only quibble with the book is that it's apparently one of a series called (in English) 'Disgusting Critters' and while I do know that 'disgusting' is meant as an attractive choice of words for kids, it just sat wrong with me. Are there really any truly disgusting creatures? I wish they could've called the series Cool Critters, or Interesting Critters or something. I'm a middle aged science nerd, and I think even flatworms are cool, so I'm not really the target audience.

Four and a half stars.

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I was given the book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

These books are so much fun, but the cockroach was almost too gross for me. I like the sense of understanding that these books give for even the most undesirable life forms.

A must read!

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Who likes reading about cockroaches? I admit I got the willies just reading this book but I also admit I learned quite a bit about them too. Filled with interesting information about cockroaches, the illustrations are humorous which young readers will enjoy. A nice addition to any library's collection.

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When we think of cockroaches it is usually because we want to get rid of them. But this is a cute picture book that gives you some facts about these amazing insects that will probably outlive us all. They first appeared on earth 300 million years ago.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cocoroach.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5526" />

Did you know that cockroaches can run up to 3 miles (or 5 K) an hour, which makes them the fastest running insects in the world?

Or that cockroaches can produce 16 babies in 24 hours. And that they will probably produce 100s in their lifetime.

Cute pictures, and fun book. Doesn't make you love them any more, but cool to read about them.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Nice informational book about cockroaches. Told in a humorous fashion kids will enjoy. Illustrations are nice....but the whole works still gives me goosebumps! I've never had roaches, but have worked at places that do. I can attest to how difficult it is to get rid of them. Just plain icky.... Yuck! Book is solid.

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This book, unlike The Bat from the same author, really does belong in this series called Disgusting Critters. Cockroaches? Ew! This book will teach you more than you ever wanted to know about these stinking, disease-carrying creatures.

In this book, we meet Diane the cockroach. Various facts (sprinkled with a dose of humour) are highlighted throughout the book by Gravel's delightfully simple illustrations. There's plenty to learn here... even if it's stuff you never really wanted to know. Cockroaches fart? Who knew?

I would definitely recommend this one to kids who are interested in bugs. It's a fun and fascinating look at a rather disgusting critter.

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I was completely grossed out by this one while also laughing. There are quite a few facts that even adults will find surprising. The illustrations and jokes are perfect. Highly recommended!

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