This is Jasmine. She runs the biggest bug hunting company in a place called Codeville. Jasmine’s company is famous for keeping everyone safe from pesky bugs. But early this morning, something unexpected happened! Someone left the door to the bug room open, and a bunch of sneaky bugs escaped into the city, just before the big talent show.
“That’s why I hired you!” Jasmine said to JD. “If we don’t catch all the bugs by three o’clock, the talent show will be ruined!”
“This should be easy,” JD said, looking around. “I see a few bugs here and a few over there.”
“Oh, those are only the spotted bugs,” Jasmine replied. “Those bugs are easy to catch. It’s the unspotted bugs that cause the most trouble.”
“Unspotted bugs are harder to find. They hide where you don’t expect them and make things worse until it seems like nothing works at all,” Jasmine explained.
“Oh no!” shouted JD. “How will we ever get them all in time to save the show?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you a trick for spotting an unspotted bug,” Jasmine said. “First, you have to know where it’s not. Take a walk down the street. Does everything work at the first step? Does everything work at the second step? How about the third? Trace your trail step-by-step until something goes wrong. That’s where the bug is hiding!”
“Now that you know where it is, spot the bug! Give it a name and say it out loud. As soon as you do, magic happens. The bug has been spotted! Now we can undo the trouble that the bug has caused.”
“Hurry, Jasmine! It’s almost three o’clock!” JD exclaimed.
“We’re still missing one big bug,” Jasmine said. “But my jar is full! You’ll have to find it on your own.”
JD stepped nervously out onto the sidewalk. “First, you have to know where it’s not,” he whispered to himself. “Does everything work at the first step? Yes. Does everything work at the second step? Yes. How about the third? No!”
“Now that I know where the bug is, I need to spot the bug! Give it a name. Say it out loud.”
“The bug is making the light not work, so I’ll call it Sparky.”
“It worked! I’ve spotted the bug! Now I can remove the bug and fix the trouble it caused. Just in time for the talent show!”
JD has made Jasmine so proud. Now the whole town knows that when things go wrong, it’s time to put the Debuggers to work!
Bug Hunt at Home: Go on a bug hunt around your house or classroom! Pretend there are “unspotted bugs” hiding in places where things aren’t working as they should. For example, if a drawer is stuck or a toy isn’t working, try to find out why. Can you spot the “bug” and fix it? Share your findings with a friend or family member and explain how you solved the problem.
Create Your Own Bug Story: Draw a picture or write a short story about a day when you found an unspotted bug. Where was it hiding? How did you find it? What did you name it? Share your story with your class or family and see if they can spot the bug in your story!
Step-by-Step Detective: Choose a simple task, like making a sandwich or tying your shoes. Break it down into steps and try to find a step where something might go wrong. Pretend there’s an unspotted bug causing the problem. How would you find and fix it? Discuss with a partner how you would solve the problem together.
**Unspotted Bugs**
*Written by Kiki Prottsman*
*Illustrated by Mike Maser and Kiki Prottsman*
This is Jasmine. She runs the biggest bug hunting company in Codeville, famous for keeping the community safe from trouble. Early this morning, something unexpected happened! Someone left the door to the bug room open, and a swarm of pesky bugs escaped into the city, right before the big talent program.
“That’s why I hired you!” Jasmine said to JD. “If we don’t collect all of the bugs by three o’clock, the program will be ruined!”
“This should be easy,” JD said, looking around. “I see a few here and a few over there.”
“Oh, those are only the spotted bugs,” Jasmine replied. “Those bugs are easy to get under control. It’s the unspotted bugs that cause the most trouble.”
“Unspotted bugs are harder to find. They hide where you don’t expect them and make things worse until it seems like nothing works at all.”
“Oh no!” shouted JD. “How will we ever get them all in time to save the program?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you a trick for spotting an unspotted bug. First, you have to know where it’s not. Take a walk down the street. Does everything work at the first step? Does everything work at the second step? How about the third? Trace your trail step-by-step until something goes wrong. That’s where the bug is hiding!”
“Now that you know where it is, spot the bug! Give it a name and say it out loud. As soon as you do, magic happens. The bug has been spotted! Now we can undo the trouble that the bug has caused.”
“Hurry, Jasmine! It’s almost three o’clock!”
“We’re still missing one big bug,” Jasmine said. “But my jar is full! You’ll have to find it on your own.”
JD stepped nervously out onto the sidewalk. “First, you have to know where it’s not,” he whispered to himself. “Does everything work at the first step? Yes. Does everything work at the second step? Yes. How about the third? No!”
“Now that I know where the bug is, I need to spot the bug! Give it a name. Say it out loud.”
“The bug is making the light not work, so I’ll call it Sparky.”
“It worked! I’ve spotted the bug! Now I can remove the bug and fix the trouble it caused. Just in time for the talent program!”
JD has made Jasmine so proud. Now the whole town knows that when things go wrong, it’s time to put the Debuggers to work!
*The End!*
