The Bug Girl
A True Story
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
7-year-old Sophia Spencer was bullied for loving bugs until hundreds of women scientists rallied around her. Now Sophie tells her inspiring story in this picture book that celebrates women in science, bugs of all kinds and the importance of staying true to yourself.
Sophia Spencer has loved bugs ever since a butterfly landed on her shoulder--and wouldn't leave!--at a butterfly conservancy when she was only two-and-a-half years old. In preschool and kindergarten, Sophia was thrilled to share what she knew about grasshoppers (her very favorite insects), as well as ants and fireflies . . . but by first grade, not everyone shared her enthusiasm. Some students bullied her, and Sophia stopped talking about bugs altogether. When Sophia's mother wrote to an entomological society looking for a bug scientist to be a pen pal for her daughter, she and Sophie were overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response--letters, photos and videos came flooding in. Using the hashtag BugsR4Girls, scientists tweeted hundreds of times to tell Sophia to keep up her interest in bugs--and it worked!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Canadian fourth grader and social media phenomenon Sophia Spencer shares her first-person story and a guide to her favorite insects. Spencer's mom supports her early passion for bugs, which begins at a butterfly conservatory, but things change in first grade: "I brought a grasshopper to school. I thought the kids would be so amazed by the grasshopper they'd want to know all about it.... Then they knocked that beautiful grasshopper off my shoulder and stomped on it until it was dead." After her mother shares Spencer's story with a few entomologists, it goes viral and supportive messages pour in: "I couldn't believe how many people around the world loved bugs as much as I did. And how many of them were grown-up women!" McNamara's skillful text centers Spencer's voice, while Kerasco t's loose ink, colored pencil, and watercolor illustrations render winning details with emotional sensitivity (Scott's mother's face as she gamely captures a flying roach). Includes Sophia's Big Book of Bugs a book-within-a-book presenting "Super-Cool Bug Facts." Ages 4 8.
