Du Iz Tak?

By Carson Ellis

  • is a Canadian-born American illustrator. She received a Caldecott Honor for her book Du Iz Tak?.

  • Walker Books 2016

  • generally marked as 3-8, but depending on how you work this book it can be suitable for teens.

Du Iz Tak? uses a made-up bug language and talks about a year in the life of a group of insects. I have already shared a very similar idea-wise book Smon Smon. Du Iz Tak? is a true literary masterpiece intertwining meanings, fun and language. When reading it, we have to interpret and decode the bug language, guess and disagree on some of the phrases. If your students loved translating Smon Smon, they will find this book just as exciting.

The entire book is set in one location.

Originally, there’s a log with a hairy caterpillar climbing up a twig. Meanwhile, two winged insects are wondering what the green plant is.

Ta ta! says the caterpillar and we assume it means Hello! Some children don’t even notice that a few things have changed while they are watching the caterpillar. The grass is now growing near the boulders and the sprout is getting slightly bigger.

The caterpillar turns into a cocoon and the new mini beasts arrive to chat about the plant. They look a bit confused and keep asking Du iz tak? What do you think they are discussing? Is there a problem? Are they excited?

Sometimes the change in the setting is so subtle and fragile that we can’t even notice it. But there’s now a little white thing growing by the log.

The plant keeps developing. The creatures are talking about someone called Icky. The writer uses the capital letter, so I assume it’s a name. You can see that the white thing is growing bigger along with the grass.

Icky! Icky! ICKY! The bugs are either excited or terrified because they are getting louder. What are they looking for?

Unexpectedly, the door opens and we can see a woodlouse in his nice log house.

We find out that the ribble they were looking for is a ladder. and now they seem rather grateful. But don’t forget and look at the corner of the page where now the white thing seems even bigger and wider. And right behind the boulder there are two eyes. Just eyes for now, we can’t be sure, maybe it’s a snail.

It looks like the creatures are enjoying their day out in tree and next to it. How funny the woodlouse is chilling out with the book on his deck chair. He is having a whale of a time. There are a few smoke rings. Is someone smoking a cigar? Is it a candle or maybe someone is cooking inside the log house? By the way, the white thing has grown into a mushroom and the eyes belong to a snail.

Oh no, it’s not a snail. It’s a slug crawling across the ground under the night sky. There is a new creature now sitting on the log and playing the violin. Music of the night.

Morning. They are busy, aren’t they? What happened to the mushroom? They have some tools with them and some planks. What are they going to build? Oh, there’s a dangerous spider on the log! What happened to the plant? Someone nibbled on one of the lower leaves.

The ladybird is basking with a cheeky drink and snacking on the toadstool. They are like pirates on a good day enjoying the sun. Not a care in the world! They don’t even notice that ants are warning them of the imminent danger coming their way. Maybe when they look that way they will also see that one of the twigs turned into a creature. Or has it always been?

Everyone is shocked. Some are sad and feeling down, others are angry and fuming. Everyone is right upset. The spider is working on his web, destroying what they’ve been building together as a team.

But as good stories for children go, here comes a hero. Its massive wings scare the creatures and they cower. The bird snatches the spider and takes off.

Now they are safe and sound. They start getting busy with their unplanned spring cleaning.

And so the story goes. As we approach the final page, we see the cocoon is turning into a wonderful butterfly. And as the seasons change, the animals move out of their once beautiful flower and then finally winter arrives, staring this process all over again.