The Grasshopper Book

The author introduces his fascinating book about grasshoppers and their relations by pointing out the error of Aesop’s fable which compares the grasshopper unfavorably to the ant. “Actually,” he says, “the grasshopper is no more a ner’er-do-well than the ant; it simply does the things it has to for a happy and successful life.” He then shows how grasshoppers and the other related insects-crickets, katydids, etc.-are equipped for life and how they act from birth to death. Particularly interesting are in the incidents and examples that were drawn from the author’s observation of his own collection of grasshoppers, crickets and katydids that he kept in cages. As in Sunstone’s other books by Wilfrid Bronson, the text in this book for young readers is in large, clear type, and there are many illustrations on each page. Wilfrid Swancourt Bronson wrote his first book at the age of eight. Called “Animal People,” it started like this: “This book is for children who are interested in animals and birds. It has verey good pictures in it and children can understand it verey easily.” He later learned to spell, and wrote and illustrated over twenty books for children with “verey good pictures” that they could understand. Young readers everywhere are glad he did.