Did you know that the Bugs in Book Bugs: Explorers of Stories Past are inspired by local and regional folktales and trivia? Scroll down to find out what served as the inspiration for each Bug! If you want to read the stories that inspired our Bugs, refer to the book list on our Resources page, or read An Explorer’s Guide to Book Bugs: Explorers of Stories Past ! You will find that some popular folktales and fairy tales, such as Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, actually have their Asian equivalents too!




Magical Forests

Bug number |
Bug Name |
Inspired by |
01 |
Bari |
The Cap Seller |
02 |
Billy Wings |
The Oriental Pied Hornbill |
03 |
Bucky |
Trickster Rabbit from Japanese folktales |
04 |
Foxy Roxy |
Fox in Chinese folktales |
05 |
Gangler |
Orang Utan |
06 |
Growlma |
Tiger from the Taiwanese Little Red Riding Hood |
07 |
Jay K |
The Blue Jackal |
08 |
Jingle |
Jing Wei (bird from Chinese mythology) |
09 |
King Coil |
Pangolin |
10 |
Lil’ Deer |
Sang Kancil (Mousedeer from Malaysian and Indonesian folktales) |
11 |
Lockera |
Rapunzel tales across cultures |
12 |
Oink |
Zhu Bajie (Journey to the West) |
13 |
Prancer |
How the Peacock got the Eyes on its Tail |
14 |
Rodex |
Rat from the Chinese Zodiac |
15 |
Saga |
Saga tree |
16 |
Singalux |
Lion from the story of Sang Nila Utama |
17 |
Snow and Rose |
Snow White and Rose Red |
18 |
Spotless |
Leopard Cat |
19 |
Springy |
Sembawang Hot Springs |
20 |
Tattler |
The Rajah’s Big Ears |
21 |
Thorn |
The Magic Needle (Turkish Sleeping Beauty) |
22 |
Thumb-rex |
Issun Bôshi (Japanese One-inch Boy) |
23 |
Cawkerel |
Rooster from the story of Hou Yi |
24 |
Ssswallow |
Green snake from Madame White Snake |
25 |
Ssswell |
White snake from Madame White Snake |
26 |
Dranoble |
Dragon Prince (Chinese Beauty and the Beast) |
27 |
Woofer |
Evil wolf from Chinese Folktales |
28 |
Wostrong |
Wu Song from Water Margin |
29 |
Deerwan |
Cik Siti Wan Kembang (Deer Princess) |
30 |
Gharlie |
Bawang Putih (Garlic) from Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, a Malay Cinderella tale |
31 |
Sharlie |
Bawang Merah (Shallot) from Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, a Malay Cinderella tale |
32 |
Padook |
Pak Kaduk (Foolish Old Man) |
33 |
T-moon |
Timun Emas (The Golden Cucumber) |
34 |
Twiggy |
Bangau oh Bangau (Crane) |
35 |
Alya |
Banyan Tree |
36 |
Chomper |
The Greedy Mouse (Panchatantra tale) |
37 |
m0ng00 |
The Loyal Mongoose (Panchatantra tale) |
38 |
Fangs |
Snake from The Loyal Mongoose (Panchatantra tale) |
39 |
Heehaw |
The Musical Donkey (Panchatantra tale) |
40 |
Platter |
Platypus from Who Rules? |
41 |
Atlanta |
Atlas Moth |
42 |
Unidragan |
Qi Lin (Chinese mythological creature) |
43 |
Toothy |
Buaya (Crocodile) from Sang Kancil stories |
44 |
Many-eyes |
Poocha the fly from Eecha Poocha (Malayalam Folktale) |
Mysterious Seas

Bug number |
Bug Name |
Inspired by |
45 |
Aqua-Leo |
Merlion |
46 |
Bugdang |
Badang |
47 |
Systerus |
Sisters’ Islands |
48 |
Floramagus |
He Xian Gu from the Eight Immortals |
49 |
Tango |
Si Tanggang (tale of the Ungrateful Son) |
50 |
Pincers |
The Crane and the Crab |
51 |
Buoyser |
Kusu Island |
52 |
Karpi |
Carp (fish from Chinese mythology) |
53 |
Blueblood |
Sang Nila Utama |
54 |
Brella |
Frog from Tamil folktales |
Mystical Mountains

Bug number |
Bug Name |
Inspired by |
55 |
Ayuella |
Radin Mas Ayu |
56 |
Chipper |
The Stonecutter (Japanese folktale) |
57 |
Monkey Kong |
Sun Wukong (Journey to the West) |
58 |
Ol’ Sage |
Yu Gong Yi Shan (The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains) |
59 |
Midan |
Boy from Attack of the Swordfish |
60 |
Digex |
Manjhi Moves a Mountain |
61 |
Spikey |
Swordfish from Attack of the Swordfish |
62 |
Queen Fenix |
Phoenix from Chinese mythology |
63 |
Tiara |
Puteri Gunung Ledang (Malaysian legendary princess) |
64 |
Kawkaw |
The Crow in The Crow and the Snake (Panchatantra tale) |
Marvellous Homes

Bug number |
Bug Name |
Inspired by |
65 |
Areeda |
Aree from The Girl Who Wore Too Much |
66 |
Shadow |
Wayang Kulit (Indonesian puppet-shadow play) |
67 |
Tameria |
Tam from Tam and Cam (Vietnamese Cinderella folktale) |
68 |
Mu-Lice |
Mulan |
69 |
Nojum |
Nujum Pak Belalang |
70 |
Ginger |
Poocha the cat from Eecha Poocha (Malayalam Folktale) |
71 |
Neeann |
Nian monster (Chinese New Year legend) |
72 |
Brushy |
Ma Liang and the Magic Paintbrush |
73 |
Lucky |
Hang Tuah (legendary warrior of Melaka) |
74 |
Charmer |
Tenali Raman |
NDP21 |
August |
NDP 2021 mascot |