I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Such a fun book for kids, and I loved it as an adult. Such a great concept and so much fun!!!!!!!!!

Illumibugs: Explore the World of Mini Beasts with your Magic 3 Color Lens by Barbara Taylor is an interactive book that takes readers on a journey through the undergrowth with a magic three-color lens (included with the print edition) to discover over 180 minibeasts from every continent, under the sea, and even from prehistoric times. With your lens in hand, discover mini beast habitats, and learn more about the impressive insects and other creepy crawlies that scuttle and wriggle around the world. Your green lens reveals a habitat, spanning 7 continents, under the sea, and prehistoric times. Learn about the particular environments and challenges that minibeasts face here. Your red lens brings to life insects including beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, and wasps. Your blue lens uncovers the other invertebrate creepy crawlies from different mini beast families including worms, snails, and spiders. Fact pages fill in the details and guide you through a world bursting with life and color. Innovative illustrations from award-winning design duo Carnovsky make this a natural history like no other, with hundreds of places, plants, and creatures to discover on three layers of detailed artwork.

Illumibugs will capture the attention and interest of many young readers, and those that might be sharing the read with them. This is a book that I very much suggest reading in print rather than digital, because of the effects intended to be created with the three color lenses that are included with the book. The digital copy does come with a QR code that allows readers to simulate the effects of the color lens, but I think the hands on version might be more fun for more tactile focused readers, while the digital version would be great for those that prefer digital devices or need to use adaptive technology. That being said, I thought the creativity and page layouts were very well done. I also thought that the information shared for each region and the creepy crawlies that live there were well chosen and well written. The information about each continent and the habitats was also well done. I like that a the chosen creatures showed some drastic differences between habitats while also showing how some creatures are different variations on the same species all around the world, and under the water. While not a comprehensive book about insects, arachnids, and other things considered bugs, this book could easily capture and keep the attention of young readers and spark interest and curiosity for further research. I think it will also hold up to repeated reads and studies with the colored lenses and without, just to see what things they might see that were previously missed.

This book is full of facts and information about insects. It has glasses that shift which things you can see on each page. Different types of facts are in color overlays. It would be a good book for someone who wants exciting facts and learn more about insects. The color overlay is a fun interactive element but does make it hard to read without the glasses. Keeping the glasses with the book would be a slight challenge in a library environment.

What a super cool way to check out and learn more about bugs! I can totally see so many students being obsessed with this book!!

I've had mixed form with this series of books – and I've still yet to experience one as it should be. The pattern of them all is uniform – a double-page spread leading up to something, the something itself, and then the key to show us what the something was showing us. And all comes at us in completely impenetrable fashion, for you need the special tri-coloured lenses to isolate one over-lapped colour from the rest, otherwise it does look, as I said last time, like a security etching on a banknote. When the book was on about ghosts, ghoulies and monsters, the fact you could only see a third of the design at a time was sort of in keeping with the philosophy of the piece – that our places have the things in them that we know about, and then the things we don't. But last time I saw a dinosaur book done with this unique approach, and it kind of left me – and the dinosaurs – hanging.

Anyway, this is about bugs, and as a result for every continent we get a preamble spread, the full gallery, and then the key with nature notes and a way for us to still see something if we lose the lenses. Looking at the gallery pages, one colour ink – and a third of the lens offering – will pick out the foliage, one will portray the bugs as the scientists know them, and the other will isolate the other critters – the spiders, slugs, millipedes etc.

Once again it's not perfect – there is little attempt at being scientific with things like showing things to scale, for one. It is a little too hung up on its presentation style when it could perhaps tell us more through text at the same time (although the trivia, such as the snail with the hundred ROWS of teeth – on its tongue, and that Europe alone has 19,000 species of fly, is pretty impressive). You could argue that the visual creator here, the great Carnovsky, isn't completely sure what to present and how, for he has so far dithered about with his formatting, all the while being a perfectly decent illustrator, mind. So no, not perfect, but it is a distinctive effort once again, and if people come away from this with a greater respect for the variety, breadth and sheer galling size of some of these bleddy things, then the book will easily have shown itself the success I think it is.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quarto for the ARC of this!

We are huge fans of this beautiful series and this installment is not exception. It’s perfect for my 9 year old to read alone or with me, or for my 6 year old to be read to one section at a time. It’s full of interesting things to look at, facts about the creatures and plants, and opens up discussions on wider topics such as habitat, evolution, and Bastian mimicry. While it’s interesting to read, I think the biggest pro is how much fun my kids have looking through the lens (we used one from a previous physical book, but there was also a QR code at the end to turn your phone into a viewer) and just immersing themselves in the illustrations and noticing new things each time.

This is a non fiction children’s book about bugs. The Illustrations are highly unusual, I don’t think I’ve every seen anything like it. To me they feel out of place, they would be better suited in an adult zen colouring book.

There is quite a lot of text on the pages and they appear quite small, however it is quite interesting. I do feel that it is a little complex to really use ‘properly’ for the age group suggested, however for older children, I think they will be able to navigate this accordingly, as the bugs are divided by continent. (then there are 2 additional sections with Prehistoric and underwater bugs)

I’m not really blown away by it and for children there are way better (less complex) books out there, one i’ve read recently which is called Minibeasts explorer by Nosy Crow and a partnership with the National Trust. - but I will review this book a bit later. (once my little humans and myself have done some more exploring with it)

Eeeeek! Bugs! This book is trippy in all the best ways. Although this book is geared more towards older children, my 4yo loved it. It’s a book that we use mostly during our insect units but the illustrations alone help engage even the youngest bug enthusiasts— preschoolers! Definitely a book we will use as a supplement for our nature studies.

Thank you so much NetGalley & Quarto Publishing Group – Wide Eyed Editions for the preview!

This non-fiction text teaches about all types of bugs and insects. The illustrations are a bit unusual and almost look like things you might find in an adult/complex colouring book or mandala. The font is quite small and there is a fair amount on a page, but the formatting of the book is quite beautiful and interesting. Organized by continent (plus underwater and prehistoric sections), the book is broken up into sections so that it is easy to navigate if looking for specific insects. As a grade 3 teacher, I would say this book would be too complex for most children, and would not purchase a copy for my personal classroom library. I would recommend this book to parents or teachers of preteens with a strong reading level and/or interest in insects or teens and potentially even adults. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this book!

Obviously reading this as a pdf leaves much to be desired. I think there was a way to get the effect on a tablet or device, but I didn't do it. Great information. Like how it's divided geographically and among the types of insects/other creepy crawlies. Would love to look through the lenses to see the full effect. The style is really cool.