May 20, 2026
Buckle up for another review where I try to make it about me! JK! Sort of. The Dung & Bo series is so good, and so fun, and I can't believe I live in a world where I get to watch my friend and critique partner, Melanie Uteg live her dream. If you have a kid who loves insects, nature, learning, STEAM, poop jokes (Dung is a dung beetle, duh), and the sweetest illustrations, get this series, pronto.
Dung & Bo are two bestie beetles. Bo is curious about finding out where he belongs and wants to explore all the insect school options. Dung is reticent because he doesn’t think beetles will matter at other schools. Together, they visit Ant, Bee, Butterfly, Dragonfly, Firefly, and Grasshopper school. As the school day progresses, they learn about other insects (and so do we), help solve a problem, and have fun doing it!
Each book tackles a new insect species and shares fun facts about what they do, or eat, or what their “mission” is on the planet. Along the way, we also learn a lot about Dung and Bo (who is a rainBOw stag beetle) and how they help to make Earth habitable for us all. Dung has a notebook where he writes his “mission” notes, which help set the stage and also wrap up the experience for each book.
Bits and Pieces: The illustrations in this book seem to be digitally illustrated, but that’s just a guess! I poked around Francesca’s website and couldn’t find her medium. Fun fact, when Melanie was writing this series, she originally named the characters Dung and Stag. Because I got to critique the books I still slip up and call them this sometimes. Whoops!
Not Sure About: If there will be more books in the series?!
Favorite Part: My favorite book was Firefly School, because the illustrations were purpley and soft. But I also loved Dragonfly School because I learned about dragonflies, and apparently, all my dragonfly knowledge was incorrect. Ant school is definitely the funniest, the sticky juice box bit is a hoot! And of course, I loved Bee school because I’m obsessed with pollinators. I think you get the point. I liked all the books.
A note: I always add a bookshop.org link in case you can't buy locally, but in this case I found Dung & Bo for half price HERE
