Bug in a Vacuum - a bookwrap

                                                                                             

                                                                                   
                                                           
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Unwrapping and setting free...

Written and illustrated by Mélanie Watt

Ages 5-9



Unwrapping some fantastic illustrations for you...

They are so fantastic I wanted to pick them all.

Unwrapping the content...

Did you ever get a book into your possession that you just wanted to hug and not share because it hits a certain spot in your heart and you want to claim it as yours?  No touchie please!! Well this book did just that for me.

Napoleon, an adorable and loveable little dachshund, spots a fly one day in the yard and then takes it upon himself to chase after it all through his house, through a bathroom, kitchen, bedroom and finally into the living room.  The fly uses a huge globe to land on and that's when the world is no longer his oyster.  He finds himself sucked into the vacuum along with Napoleon's favourite toy, a knitted miniature, knitted facsimile of himself, with button eyes....both gone into the abyss of no return.   While trapped inside the dusty prison the fly experiences the five stages of grief and Napoleon also grieves for his coveted buddy entrapped inside the steel capsule as well.  The first emotion the fly experiences is:

 * Denial:  In the beginning the fly is euphoric.  Hurray this is amazing!!!  What a cool adventure I am having... and then reality sets in, and so does...

*Bargaining:  If you just let me out I won't bug anyone anymore I promise. 

"Dear Vacuum, 
If you let me free I promise to avoid my favourite hangouts:  
               Windowsills
                Picnics
                Porta-potties
                                         A new Bug"

* Anger:  Let me out now.  Did you hear me?  No more Mr. Nice Fly.  I'm bubbling over!  I'm going to explode!!  "Attack!!!"

* Despair:  Woe is me!  I am doomed!  Forever a prisoner of my fate.  "I'll never see the sky again."  And finally...

* Acceptance:  "I surrender! I'll make the best of things." 

The vacuum drags across the floor and is hoisted up into the Bull Dog Keep It Clean! Waste Service truck and off it zooms for trash disposal.  

Will the fly be freed?  Will Napoleon get his playmate back to cuddle and love once again?  Will they both recover from this life-changing event?  

"The five stages of grief, also known as the Kibler-Ross model, introduced in 1969, are a series of emotions commonly experienced when facing a life-changing event. "  Watt cleverly weaves these emotions throughout the story, parallelled by both the fly inside the vacuum and Napoleon, on the outside.  The illustrations are truly amazing, packed full of detail and expression and action.  This book is highly, highly, highly recommended.  And the icing on the cake?  Mélanie Watt is Canadian! Hurray Canada!

About the author...

Mélanie Watt is the bestselling creative genius behind many beloved picture books for children, including the Scaredy Squirrel series, the Chester series, You're Finally Here!, Have I Got a Book for You! and Augustine. Mélanie's books have received numerous starred reviews from journals such as PW and Kirkus and have won many state awards in the US, including the Virginia Readers' Choice Award, North Carolina's Children's Book Award and Maryland's Black-Eyed Susan Award. In Canada, she is a multiple winner of the OLA's Blue Spruce Award and the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award. The Scaredy Squirrel animated television series based on her books airs on the Cartoon Network in the US and YTV in Canada. Mélanie lives in Montreal, Quebec.

Read on and read always!

It's a wrap.

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