100 Bugs!

By Kate Narita, Suzanne Kaufman (Illustrator)

Count to 100 by discovering bugs in a backyard adventure.

3.9/5 Goodreads · 289 ratings

40 pages· 260 words· Est. 2 min read-aloud

$19.99Save 5%

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Bookroo's summary

Join a boy and girl as they embark on a backyard adventure, discovering and counting 100 different bugs in groups of ten. From dragonflies to katydids, each page offers a new counting challenge and a chance to explore the vibrant world of insects. Will they find all 100 bugs? Dive into this whimsical journey and learn ten different ways to count to ten, all while enjoying a playful and educational experience.

From the publisher

A boy and girl find and count 100 different bugs in their backyard in increments of ten.

At a glance

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 40
Words: 260
Reading age: 5–7
Audience: Picture
Lexile: AD440L

Themes & topics

Books about bugs and insects Books about counting and numbers Books about numbers Books about flowers Books about farms

Good to know

Stories behind the story

Where did you originally get the idea for 100 Bugs!?

I was speaking with my teaching colleague, Teresa Zuckerman. She said, "In order for kids to be successful in math, they have to know the combinations of ten." Immediately I thought of all the math picture books that I knew of. Not one of them covered the combinations of ten. I believed I could write one, and in so doing, would enrich the mathematics education of every child who read the book. By Kate Narita (author)

What is your favorite thing about 100 Bugs!?

I've always loved dragonflies. Not only does 100 BUGS feature dragonflies, it also features damselflies. One of my favorite summertime activities is to watch dragonflies and damselflies zip and dart around my yard. Now, I can see them zip and dart in the wintertime, too. All I have to do is open the book. By Kate Narita (author)

What was the hardest part about creating 100 Bugs!?

The hardest part was writing the scientific backmatter for the ten insects and the ten plants in a month's time. When the acquiring editor spoke with me she said that she knew I had a family and that I worked a full time job, but that they wanted the scientific backmatter in a month. So, every day I researched for two-to-three hours before school and two-to-three hours after school. It was intense, but I learned so many riveting facts about every insect in the book. I never knew that in 1999 ladybugs traveled to space or that three female Chilean high school students had proposed that project to NASA. I also didn't know the three female fifth graders in Colorado had proposed that NASA take ladybugs back into space in 2015. Unfortunately, the 2015 experiment blew up and the ladybugs didn't make it. But who knows? Maybe someday you'll write a NASA proposal and ladybugs will once again become astronauts! By Kate Narita (author)

During which stage of the ideation/creation process did you know that this particular idea was going to go somewhere?

The whole process was magical. The text came to me word-for-word as I drove home from writing group. It was the same day that Teresa Zuckerman mentioned the importance of the combinations of ten. When I showed my husband the text he said, "This is the one." When I brought the first version of the manuscript to my critique group they said, "This is the one." When I attended Rutgers One-On-One-Plus-Conference and an editor said that she loved publishing books by teachers and librarians I said, "This is the one." It turns out we were all right! By Kate Narita (author)

What part of creating 100 Bugs! did you most enjoy?

I enjoyed every single part of the proces, but the part that brought me the most joy was collaborating with so many people to make 100 BUGS! the best book it could possibly be. Not only did the editor do an amazing job choosing Suzanne Kaufman to illustrate the book, the editor also had a vision that brought the story full circle. Suzanne and I spoke a couple of times to make sure that the species we chose best highlighted Suzanne's gorgeous art. My teaching colleagues helped me figure out the best layout for the array page of 100 bugs at the back of the book. Creating the trailer was also a collaborative process. My students and our book buddies agreed to act in the book trailer, my younger son helped me arrange the art for the book trailer and my older son played the viola music for the book trailer. You can view the trailer here http://www.katenarita.com/100-bugs.html Meanwhile, my husband stood by me every step of the way. By Kate Narita (author)

For readers who can't stop at one