Early Readers: The Bug in the Bog by Jonathan Fenske

 A plump, stripy yellow and orange bug perches on a log. A bug on a log in a bog. Along comes a frog, with a plan for a tasty dinner... and the frog is followed by a fog... will the bug in the bog be eaten by the frog in the fog, or will there be an unexpected outcome for these alliterative animals?

Another mischievously humorous early reader from Fenske, the king of funny easy readers. The cartoon illustrations are delightful, showing a grinning fog, delightfully round bug, and cheerfully blooping swamp. Adults are most likely to note the sneaky dedication "to epomis beetles" which hints at the surprise ending of the story, but that's par for the course with Fenske, who always puts in a few extra jokes for adults as well as his young readers.

Ready-to-read has its own leveling system, as do many publishers, but it doesn't have a helpful equivalent to any of the more familiar systems like Lexiles or Fountas & Pinnell. It's a Pre-Level One in their system, and does have mostly short, simple words like "bug" and "frog" but as the story goes along it gets a little more challenging, "Hear the soft, swampy bog bubbles pop in the hollow." The alliteration and rhymes add another aspect for readers to handle as well, so I'd give this a red sticker, which in my library denotes roughly 100-275 in lexiles and D-H in Fountas & Pinnell.

Verdict: An ideal early reader for fans of Fenske's other work and those who like their humor a tad sharper than Elephant and Piggie. Recommended for most collections.

ISBN: 9781534477247; Published 2020 by Simon & Schuster; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library