Allison Wortche’s “Ruby and the Itsy-Bitsy Icky Bug” Gets Starred Review From the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, June 2022 issue

Ruby and the Itsy-Bitsy Icky Bug

Wortche, Allison; illus. by Sally Walker. Knopf, 2022

It’s a perfect sunny Saturday morning, but as soon as Ruby opens her curtains, the day is ruined by a big, icky bug on her window screen. To be clear, Ruby loves all animals furry and scaled; bioluminescent sea creatures are the coolest. She’s going to be a marine biologist or a paleontologist (and a rock star), but “entomologist” is a definite no, because bugs? Bugs are gross. She wants that bug gone, so she takes matters into her own hands. A spray of water doesn’t work, and neither does blowing hard at it through the screen. The bug stays put when Ruby screams as loud as she can, and she ends up with a time-out. In her room. With the bug. But maybe . . . the bug isn’t so bad. His little antennae are kind of cute, and it’s not so lonely being in time out with the bug to keep her company. Even after time-out is over, Ruby goes back to check on him, and at bedtime she makes an exciting discovery: Mr. Yuck-Bug is bioluminescent, just like her favorite fish! Ruby is a delightfully expressive protagonist, with rosy, light brown cheeks and a wide-eyed, gap-toothed look of horror when she encounters her insect visitor. Walker’s whimsical artwork—a combination of printmaking, ink, and pencil, layered and colored digitally in a warm, earthy palette—provides an energetic depiction of Ruby’s thoughts and imaginings, as vignettes and speech bubbles are interspersed with full-bleed pages and spreads as Ruby gets to know her bug friend. Cool tones take over in the closing scenes, zooming out to a nighttime landscape dotted with fireflies. Bring this book for science-themed story time, a warm-up before a nature program, or a read-aloud with a bug-ambivalent kid.  SS