Roberto the Insect Architect, By Nina Laden Roberto is a termite unlike any other. Everyone knows that termites eat wood. But Roberto? Roberto likes to build with it. Even though his structures are magnificent, Roberto gets made fun of for being different than the rest of his termite friends. Because of this, he leaves his home and goes somewhere else to try and make a life for himself where he and his wood building will be accepted. After being refused work by leading architects in the minituarized bug city, he decides that he will just build homes for individuals anonymously. However, when his secret identity is revealed, he becomes famous and a legacy for his amazing work. He continues to build homes and buildings out of wood, gets job offers from bugs all over the place, and some bugs even want to make his story into books and movies so everyone will remember what he was known for. Young bugs all over the place hear his story and instead of being told not to play with their food, their parents tell them to "be like Roberto," and that basically their imagination is important and unique to who they are.
I really, really liked this book. Between the unique illustrations, which combine real pictures with artwork, and the use of personification, rhyming, and descriptive words that go appropriately with each bug's name, this is certainly a book I will make sure I have on my classroom shelves. I would even hope to see it as a movie someday. Like Woolbur, another book that I have read on my blog, this one teaches really important life lessons and draws the reader into the story. I would highly recommend this book for teachers to use in their own classrooms.
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