Grub is hungry. He’s always hungry. He eats and eats and eats and EATS!

Deep in an old log he knows that all his eating will make something happen. He can feel he going to change.

But what will he change into from his white fat grub body?

As his friends go by on their daily business, he asks them their advice.

Ladybird, Butterfly, Stick Insect and Cicada all tell Grub where they came from and what they used to be. They don’t know what he might become.

Still Grub wonders. Will he hover or fly, sing or stretch long legs into a run? Soon he knows it’s time to stop wondering and build himself a shell. What will he be when he wakes up?

GRUB will take you down to the forest floor where a hive of activity is present. Grub is busy munching and other insects are going about their day. He asks them questions as they travel by, hoping they know what he might become. He marvels at beautiful wings, long legs and the song of another insect, but is unsure at his own future.

Each insect explains what they were, either caterpillar, larva, or nymph, before they became their final form. This a great way for young entomologists to make their first steps in the fascinating study of insects.

The illustrations alternate between Grub asking his questions from his log and the plant life around it, to the next page being a clear depiction of how the visiting insect once was.

When Grub finally does make his own cocoon I too wondered what he might become. The result is a spectacular surprise, with the final page providing Five Fabulous Facts about this creature.

My favourite part of this story is the hardcover format’s endpapers. You open the book to find caterpillars, larva and nymphs, and it ends with beetles, cicadas, butterflies and ladybirds.

A wonderful surprise of a book!

Author / Illustrator – Sandra Severgnini

Picture Book

(2022, Exisle Publishing, Insects, Caterpillars, Butterflies, Stick Insects, Dragonfly, Cicada, Hercules Beetle, Cocoons, Metamorphosis, Entomology, Chrysalis)