The Droning Voice hardly knows where to start.  First of all, this book appears to have been written by an actual Englishman, living in England.  There are references to geographical locations, which The Droning Voice is certain every good English boy and girl are keenly aware of.  American children though, and The Droning Voice proudly hails from America’s heartland, are typically more interested in the geographic location of their cell-phone, from where they can send selfies to their followers on whatever social media is the current favorite.

All that to say The Droning Voice is very sorry she didn’t attempt an English accent, which would make her stumbling over certain Latin words sound more erudite, and perhaps a bit more snooty, though she guesses that the very prose of this book will have most light-weight insomniacs snoring after the first few minutes, in spite of her lack of a charming accent.  Here is a short example:

“None of the sweetest, we fear, if it smacks of the tone and temper wherewith it is proclaimed. It may sometimes be found to be but lost labour that we haste to rise up early, so late take rest, if our worldly store lack the mellow sweetness of an abundance culled from earthly flowers, under the sunshine of a heavenly blessing, among the unselfish fellowships and countless charities of life, which are as the pleasant hum of bees in the sultry air of a summer’s day of toil.”

The Droning Voice is, of course, certain that the reader of this text has already ascertained that the above paragraph is about bees.  If the reader is still awake.

This is a book primarily about insects, though the author also expounds on coral, beavers, and by-God-using-your-eyes.  He also quotes from a book he read when he was young.  It clearly made quite an impression on him, though it apparently didn’t have fine and pretty pictures like the books children in the late 1800’s enjoyed.  Oh, no. Not that he was bitter.The Droning Voice notes that this book was written for children in the late 1800s, so you might want to have a dictionary nearby for some of the longer words, if you are paying any attention whatsoever. Good luck figuring out how some words are spelled.

Sleep well!