Insectlopedia is a delightful collection of insect poems and paintings by Douglas Florian. As I read these poems aloud, I found the rhythms easy to identify and to hear without extra effort. Even now, as I write this review, my brain is giving me words in the rhythm of the book. I have a terrifying urge to rhyme these words - a thought I'll purge.

Florian's words flow effortlessly and each poem fits its subject perfectly. He not only gives the insects human characteristics, but he seems to give them distinct personalities as well. In the short time that we meet each character, we come away with a feeling of who they are. The dragonfly, for instance, says, "I am the dragon. Down on your knees!" while the praying mantis plays on words when he says, "...I swallow them Religiously." I feel I know these characters so well that I am having to resist the urge to capitalize their names. Florian sometimes uses a more concrete style such as the circular shape of "The Whirligig Beetles" or the towering words of "The Termites" to give the reader even more of a sense of the insect.

One cannot read this book without commenting on the illustrations, watercolors painted by Florian himself on brown paper bags with a collage look. Innovative pictures compliment the innovative poetry beautifully, and the reader will have to do more than glance to take them in. For example, the monarch butterfly seems to be nothing more than a pair of eyes and antennae upon a princely crown. A wonderfully original work, readers will enjoy every poem and just might (gasp!) learn something along the way.