BUGS: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE WORLD’S...

BUGS: A CLOSER LOOK AT THE WORLD’S TINY CREATURES (Reader’s Digest Kids: $16.95, hardcover), written by Jinny Johnson and designed by Ralph Pitchford and John Kelley, is not for the creepy crawly phobic among us but will be a sure hit with most kids. This up-close look at bugs of every size, shape and variety is comprehensive, well-written and has fabulous illustrative work.

Each bug gets its own oversized two-page spread featuring a large drawing of the critter, with smaller drawings delineating body parts and details of bug habits and the like. This is one heck of a nature lesson; I’m still having bad dreams about that drawing of a wolf spider.

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Making the shift from the tiny to the huge is a piece of cake thanks to the eye-catching illustrations in DINOSAUR SKELETONS AND OTHER PREHISTORIC ANIMALS, another nice offering from Johnson and Reader’s Digest Kids ($16.95, hardcover). Illustrator Elizabeth Gray does a fine job shrinking the oversized former tenants of this globe down to page size; each of the 16 beasts chosen gets an intricate skeleton rendering as well as illustrations of them “with their clothes on.”

Johnson’s text is informative and comes in bite-sized chunks that amplify and complement Gray’s work. By the time your fledgling dino-scientists finish, they will know the answers to such questions as “How many vertebrae are in the neck of a Camarasaurus?” and “What was the neck frill of Triceratops made of?”

“Alex, I’d like to try ‘Dinosaurs’ for a thousand, please.”

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I wouldn’t be surprised if former President Jimmy Carter packs a copy of THE PEANUT BUTTER COOKBOOK FOR KIDS (Hyperion: $10.95, paperback), written by Judy Ralph and Ray Gompf and illustrated by Craig Terlson, in his briefcase when he wings his way around the world on peacemaking and home-building missions. The world’s most famous peanut farmer would be intrigued by the recipes in this delightful little kitchen helper for little kitchen helpers.

Recipes include expected items like PB fudge and PB brownies as well as trendy items like Thai Chicken Pizza and PB Spicy Chicken and Noodles. The recipes and directions are easy to follow and are supplemented by drawings that clearly illustrate each step of the process. As the book’s introduction puts it, “the best part of cooking is eating all the great things you make.”

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UNWRAP THE MUMMY (Random House: $20, hardcover) by Ian Dicks and David Hawcock is silly, charming and educational at the same time. This “interactive extravaganza” is a four-foot-long paper mummy in a book; kids can “unwrap” the mummy’s head and see a centuries-old skull or pull a tab to make the mummy speak.

Who would’ve thought the dead could be so much fun?