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**Compost Critters** **By: Bianca Lavies**
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**There are many decomposers in the compost heap that** **are helping out decomposing. This book talks about the different types of insects that live in the compost pile such as, sow bugs, isopods, beetles, nymphs, mites and worms. These insects help break down dead materials and organisms creating fresh soil and humus. In the book it explains the different foods you can put inside of a compost bin. It also says what each kind of bug mentioned eats and decomposes and what, it eats. Who knew that in a compost pile there are 10 different temperatures depending were you are in it. Jayven and I learned quite a few things from this book, Compost Critters written and photographs by Bianca Lavies.**

**-Ana Gonzalez**

Review about the book off of [|amazon.com]

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-- Lavies's extraordinary photography turns garbage and bugs into a thing of beauty--nutritious humus. The author begins by constructing her own compost pile and then observes it through the year as bacteria, worms, insects, and even crustaceans transform kitchen and garden scraps into fertile soil. The magnified photographs are rich in detail and color; the accompanying essay clarifies the pictures as it informs with both factual information and broadening concepts. By planting tomato vines around her compost, Lavies is able to show the result of all the activity--her tomatoes are huge. Her respect for these tiniest of creatures and her joy in the cycles of nature are apparent in both her words and her pictures. The ability of creatures to survive unchanged for billions of years; the similarity between what bacteria does in the compost and "in your gut"; the life, courtship, birth, and death cycles that occur in this environment all add up to a positive, life-affirming story that will inspire young gardeners, ecologists, and scientists. --Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Another review from Compost Critters By:Bianca Lavies click [|here]