Book Review of The Starbugz Save the Earth
Sponsored | All opinions are our own
The Children’s Book Review

Written and Illustrated by David Jaraiz Sanchez

Ages 4-6 | 32 Pages

Publisher: Friesen Press | ISBN-13: 9781525578076

What to Expect: Space, adventure, global warming, sustainability.

The Starbugz travel through space, looking for adventure and cool souvenirs to take back to their kids at home. But when their ship’s headlight gets broken, they don’t know what to do! Luckily, there’s a planet ahead—Earth!

The Starbugz land gratefully but are sad to find that the planet is sick and dead. It’s all clogged up with rubbish—so much rubbish that all the water has dried up and nothing can grow. Undeterred, the Starbugz explore enthusiastically, filling their spaceship with the treasures they find, from old toothbrushes to soda cans and—yes!—a new lightbulb for the ship’s headlamps! Soon, with their ship working and filled with all the souvenirs/trash they’ve collected, the Starbugz see that the planet is healing and growing again! Thanks, Starbugz, for cleaning up our world!

It can be easy to forget that what we do with the things we discard impacts the planet. Living in a culture of rampant consumerism, we often forget that what we call trash still has value. With fun rhyming text and kooky characters, Starbugz Save the Earth provides a graphic reminder about the dangers of uncontrolled consumption and waste, as well as an invitation to see trash and litter collection in a new light.

Sanchez’s illustrations add to the fun of this volume, using modeling and collage that seems to make art out of rubbish. Full of texture and movement, the images bring the bugs and the planet to life, inviting readers to immerse themselves in the landscape.

The Starbugz Save the Earth is an excellent introduction to sustainability practices for young readers.

Buy the Book

About the Author

David Jaraiz Sanchez is a professional painter for animation and video games. He’s from Spain and now calls Vancouver, Canada home. He lives with his spouse, Luz, his two
daughters, Valeria and Leia, and their awesome pet roly-polies. This is his first book.

Dedicated Reviews allow authors and illustrators to gain prompt visibility for their work. This is a sponsored, non-biased review of The Starbuz Save the Earth. Learn more about getting a book review …