A Wasp Builds a Nest: See Inside a Paper Wasp's Nest and Watch It Grow

K-Gr 2-Wasps are often a source of fear and discomfort for children, but this title does a compelling job of showing wasps in a more favorable light. The book opens with a queen wasp awakening from hibernation and follows her through the creation of a colony to her eventual death in the fall. The information is presented scientifically but is also accessible for young readers, with any potentially unfamiliar words well explained. The illustrations are detailed and support the text. The view of the inside of a wasp's nest is likely new to most, and students will find it helpful to see the structures in question. The pages are shingled, starting as a quarter-page and gradually expanding in size until they fill the full dimensions of the book, which works well to mimic the growing colony depicted in the illustrations. The material emphasizes the growth of the wasps and the colony rather than what wasps do outside of the hive; however, this narrow focus keeps the text from becoming confusing for younger readers.