The grandeur of the Theatre Royal’s interior retreats as insects pop up from hidey holes to go about their daily tasks. With minimal text and crisp images, Ellis’s book is deceptively simple, but don’t be fooled; this whimsical story requires a close reading to truly absorb all its subtle delights. But this is the wild world, after all, and something horrible is waiting to swoop down— booby voobeck! Viewers follow the unfurling of an exotic woodland plant through the actions and invented language of beautifully coiffed and clothed insects…This is certain to ignite readers’ interest and imaginings regarding their natural surroundings. Here's a bright, refined fantasy world to be lost in, and one that has its dark, seasonal drama to boot.

Carson Ellis is the author-illustrator of the New York Times bestseller Home, her debut solo picture book. Carson Ellis has created a fantastic microcosm with her usual grace and inventiveness…I was completely captivated by Ellis’s wonderful creatures, their charming little world and their droll language. A bold retro color palette and lots of white space allow a big beautiful story plenty of room to breathe. The creator of Home explores the astonishing changes in a garden, where insects talk their own mysterious language. Polly Crosby tells ReadingZone about her novel, This Tale is Forbidden (Scholastic), a fractured fairy tale set in a dystopian world.

With support from Arts Council, Annie and Katherine worked on bringing the characters to life as puppets, and the tiny props and sets to life. Viewers follow the unfurling of an exotic woodland plant through the actions and invented language of beautifully coiffed and clothed insects. is its ability to draw the reader in, enticing the reader to decipher and interpret this strange language and as one does, the pace at which the story is read slows right down and you find yourself observing every minute change that has occurred. Much discussion goes on in bug language and it is fun to guess what the creepy-crawlies might be saying.

In 2018, a short animated film version was released by Weston Woods Studios, a division of Scholastic, adapted, directed, and animated by Galen Fott.Come and peer into a miniature world of little puppets to see a delightful group of friends exploring their ever-changing home. There’s an elusive yet distinctly joyful quality to Carson Ellis’s picture book that feels like suspended glee, or a laugh caught halfway in the throat. Ellis’s ( Home) bewitching creation stars a lively company of insects who speak a language unrelated to English, and working out what they are saying is one of the story’s delights…Very gently, Ellis suggests that humans have no idea what wonders are unfolding at their feet—and that what takes place in the lives of insects is not so different from their own. of the caterpillar dangling upside down from a twig is later repeated by others so what might first be read as 'ta-da' later seems to mean 'bye bye'.