The Bugs series, also known as David Carter's Bugs, is a series of children's books by David A. Carter. The educational series features brightly-colored bugs, including bug versions of everyday objects and even other animals, teaching about colors, numbers, directions, the alphabet, and more. The series began with the 1998 pop-up book How Many Bugs in a Box? (pictured to the right) and has so far had twenty-six entries, the latest being 2016's Bugs at the Beach.
The series so far includes:
- How Many Bugs in a Box? (1988)
- More Bugs in Boxes (1990)
- Jingle Bugs (1992)
- Alpha Bugs (1994)
- Love Bugs (1995)
- Feely Bugs (1995)
- Bugs That Go Bump in the Night (1996)
- Bugs in Space (1997)
- Finger Bugs Love Bug (1997)
- Bugs at Play (1997)
- Bugs at Work (1997)
- Busy Bugs, Lazy Bugs (1997)
- Bugs on the Go (1997)
- Stinky Bugs, Simon & Schuster (1998)
- Bed Bugs: A Pop-Up Bedtime Book (1998)
- The Twelve Bugs of Christmas: A Pop-Up Christmas Counting Book (1999)
- Giggle Bugs: A Lift-and-Laugh Book (1999)
- Easter Bugs: A Springtime Pop-Up (2001)
- Chanukah Bugs: A Pop-Up Celebration (2002)
- Peekaboo Bugs: A Hide-and-Seek Book (2002)
- Halloween Bugs: A Trick-or-Treat Pop-Up (2003)
- Beach Bugs (2008)
- The Big Bug Book (2008)
- School Bugs (2009)
- Builder Bugs (2012)
- Bugs at the Beach (2016)
The first two books in the series, How Many Bugs in a Box? and More Bugs in Boxes received video game adaptions, both in 1997.
Tropes used by the series:
- Alliterative Title: Many of the book titles use this, including Beach Bugs, The Big Bug Book, Builder Bugs, Bugs at the Beach, and Bed Bugs.
- Alliterative Name: The majority of bug species within the series have alliterative names; examples include Bouncing Brown Basketball Bugs, Loopy Little Lavender Bugs, Snazzy Silver Spitfire Bug, Purple Pickle Bugs, and more.
- Christmas Episode: Jingle Bugs and The Twelve Bugs of Christmas: A Pop-Up Christmas Counting Book.
- Friendly Neighborhood Spider: The Spooky Speckled Spider-Bugs, despite their name, are friendly in the books and in the video games, not causing any harm and just joining in with the other bugs.
- Halloween Episode: Bugs That Go Bump in the Night and Halloween Bugs: A Trick-or-Treat Pop-Up.
- Hanukkah Episode: Chanukah Bugs: A Pop-Up Celebration
- Helping Hands: The Finger Bugs are bugs that resemble disembodied human hands, pointing in directions. In the video games, they are used to turn the pages of the storybook sections or go through menu options.
- Scary Scorpions: Mean Green Grabber Bugs are scorpions and among the few malicious bugs in the series.
