One Beetle Too Many
Author: Kathryn Lasky
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Copyright: 2009
Pages: 36
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Genre: Children’s Non-Fiction
Rating: ***

Summary:
In Charles Darwins home growing up nothing was off limits. That being the case he loved to be outside collecting bugs. He even popped a beetle into his mouth as a kid because he ran out of jars. At the age of eight his mother passed away and he was sent away to boarding school. He hated school and did poorly, but when he and his brother returned they had fun making a lab for experiments in the back. His father getting very annoyed by Charles poor study habits was sent to study medicine, when he failed at that because he hated blood and anatomy his father decided he should join the clergy. Well the only thing better about the clergy was that there was no blood, but he hated that as well and when Henslow, a friend told him about a change to go and explore South America he could resist. He convinced his Father and family to let him go and he was gone! The sea captains name was Fitzroy. Fitzroy was a man who believed in God and Charles believed in a higher power. This lead to many fights between the men. Despite their arguments though, the Beagle said on. And all over South America it sailed. Each place they put anchor Darwin would explore! He collected specimen after specimen and sent them all back to Henslow in England. While he was gone he studied how the birds varied from island to island, he experienced his first earthquake, and began to think how evolution began. Finally after five years of travel and study, Darwin returned home. He then married his cousin Emma Wedgewood and they started their family which eventually grew to twelve with the two of them and their ten children! Since Emma’s family was even wealthier than Darwin’s he was able to spend all his days dedicated to studying. And in this time he wrote The Origin of Species which sold out its first day. It was very controversial because it was a book about evolution which contradicted the belief that many held of creationism. But his family and friends stood by him. All his life Charles Darwin studied and learned about everything and anything around him.

Who would benefit from reading this?
Anyone who wants to learn more about Charles Darwin in a factual but less boring way, this would be great for a book report on him, along with a great book for young scientists.

Potential problems/conflicts:
The book is pretty long. It also goes against the belief of creationism. Lots of information but the pages can be very lengthy for a kid’s book at times.

My reaction:
I learned a lot more than I ever knew about Charles Darwin. I find it interesting how some of the most influential and most talked about people in history did not do well in school. Makes me feel not so bad about getting a bad grade here and there. I learned a lot more about Darwin from this book but at times the pages could be very lengthy and more information than I really cared to know.