A dung beetle learns to be proud of his diet. Common themes of friendship, popularity, and being true to yourself find expression in the story of Dougie Dung Beetle, who's embarrassed about eating lunch in front of everyone. When Ronald Roly Poly defensively curls into a ball in response to a prank and his wild rolling threatens classroom destruction, Dougie uses specific dung-beetle skills to steer Ronald to safety and is invited to join the popular crowd in the cafeteria. Poop jokes and insect facts are a surefire hit with an elementary school crowd, and this story delivers both in spades: Dougie, the Dung Beetle family, and Herman Housefly feast on poopy juice, poop bars, pooding, and poopcorn. The dung beetle spends most of the book ashamed of this diet, but resolution comes when the other bugs reveal weird facts about themselves: A goth mosquito admits to drinking blood, a worm's tail reveals that it has a brain, and Alphonse Aphid "was born pregnant." The first-person prose is a bit wooden at times, and at almost 50 pages this will make for a longer read-aloud than is common. But the fine-lined illustrations, full of details to pore over, are delightful, and the story moves at a quick pace, effectively delivering on both humor and message. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Gross but great. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.