Now you’ve got me thinking Sal…why don’t you use a bunch of Dung Beetles to clean Joe’s nappies?
Ah, the friendly Dung Beetle – how I wish I could employ a couple of these poo lovers to clean out our nappy bucket so I didn’t have to deal with the washing of poo and wee on a weekly basis. But the risks of the Dung Beetle turning into a Dungzilla are real in our scientific household so for now….I’ll just keep my gloves on.
Dungzilla by James Foley is a highly entertaining graphic novel about a young girl – Sally Tinker (Formerly of Brobot) who is the world’s foremost inventor under the age of twelve. In this story she has invented a resizenator and whilst trying it out on a humble slice of pizza she accidentally hits her friends pet Dung Beetle. And you can only imagine what a giant Dung Beetle might get up to.
The humour entwined with adventure make this story one which you can’t put down. The comic style story allows younger readers to follow along with more enthusiasm as they can see the characters and gain more insight into how they are feeling and acting as each scenario unfolds.
James Foley has also included some great facts about the Dung Beetle within the story which we loved reading and inspired some extra research on this scat loving creature. We even learnt some extra words that also mean poo as we read along and some ideas on how we can create our own resizenator.
Dungzilla, filled with humour, action and great illustrations is a must read book for younger readers and those who are just starting to read on their own. But why Dungzilla on a blog about sustainability you ask – well building awareness of the small creatures in our world is just as important as awareness about the big ones.
Without Dung Beetles our world would be a lot stinkier, filled with more methane and germier.
Dung Beetles are endangered in some areas of the world due to loss of habitat, land being over farmed, more chemicals on the land and poorer quality poo due to poorer food sources.
Check out these links:
Feral animals endangering the Dung Beetle
So what can you do at home?
SUSTAINABILITY
- Go on an insect hunt and find out which insects live in your neighbourhood. Is there a way you can attract more beneficial insects to your backyard or local park?
- What is a Dung Beetle? Find out some more facts and history about the humble Dung lover.
- Why do we need insects? What might our world look like if we didn’t have beetles and bugs?
LITERACY
- Create your own comic strip about a science invention that doesn’t work out as planned.
- Look at how James Foley uses comic strips to create suspense and humour. How can you add that to your own creation?
EXTRA TEACHING NOTES HERE: Fremantle Press
