Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915) was a French naturalist who penned many writings about his beloved insects. These essay/stories describe, in great detail, his encounters with some interesting insects - how he worked with them and what he discovered about them. For instance The material is informative and even humorous at times, but rather dense (definitely not dry!). Here is a sample (from "The Pine Processionary")...
Interesting and informative stories of the strange but fascinating behavior of various types of insects. The pictures are of the somewhat cheezy 60s variety, but the text is quite good and written at approximately a second grade level.
AntWorks was one of the highlights of our summer natural history studies! This simple kit became a quirky centerpiece on our dinner table, engaging the entire family from the 18-month-old who insists that they are "Nants" to a 40-something daddy. AntWorks comes as a thick-walled plastic home with a stable base; this became important as the little ones spent time watching the ants. We have tried the sand-filled ant farms with dismal spills that freed too many of the inhabitants. The AntWorks home is filled with a blue gel-like substance that provides both nourishment and liquid to the ants.
A small, inexpensive book filled with pictures and lots of other information picture about bees and other insects. You'll learn how to tell bees apart from other insects, how bees live together in colonies and all about their beehives, how bees communicate with each other (my children have really enjoyed trying to re-enact the bee's dances) and of course how bees make honey. The one thing I didn't like is that the material is so disjointed because it jumps around between different kinds of insects.