Taryn74's Full Review: Eric Carle - The Grouchy Ladybug
This is what I hear from my two year old daughter several times a day, any time she spots The Grouchy Ladybug lying in whatever spot she last tossed it. Something about this book really seems to appeal to young children, as I can remember reading it over and over and over to my niece and nephew when they were younger. Overall it's just a silly, fun, repetitive little book, perfect for young children and beginner readers, but there are many lessons to be learned within it's pages.
The Grouchy Ladybug begins at night, with a group of fireflies dancing around the moon. At 5 am the sun comes up and a friendly ladybug lands on a leaf full of aphids to have some breakfast. In the front page of the book there are a few simple sentences about aphids - what they are, why they're damaging to plants, and why ladybugs eat them. This is nice for the inevitable "Why do they want to eat the other bugs?" or other similar questions that always seem to come up.
The friendly ladybug is then approached by a grouchy ladybug who tells it "Go away, I want those aphids!" The friendly ladybug points out that there are enough aphids for them to share, to which the grouchy ladybug responds "No, they're mine, all mine! Or do you want to fight me for them?"
The friendly ladybug's response to this challenge is a simple "If you insist," while looking the grouchy ladybug in the eye. The grouchy ladybug immediately backs down, mumbling something about the other bug not being "big enough to fight." While subtle, the message for kids here is great - when approached by a bully, calmly stand your ground and the bully will most likely back down. The friendly ladybug then suggests the grouchy ladybug go find someone bigger to fight, and the grouchy ladybug takes off to do just that.
Each hour the grouchy ladybug encounters a different potential opponent and challenges each with a "Hey you, want to fight?" (My daughter loves this part, and often runs over to her Daddy with a "Wanna fight?") The opponents start out small - a yellow jacket - and gradually get bigger and bigger, ending with a whale. Each one answers the ladybug's challenge the same, "If you insist..." to which the ladybug quickly responds with "Oh you're not big enough" and flies off.
Each page during the ladybug's search gets progressively bigger as the animals it encounters get bigger. The pages also have a small clock in the upper corner to show what time each opponent is challenged, as well as shows where the sun is located at the different hours. This will make a nice learning tool when it comes time to teach my daughter about reading a clock and telling time. The final animal - a whale - takes a full forty-five minutes for the ladybug to cover, as it challenges first the whale's head, then flipper, then fin, then finally the tail, which slaps it right back to the leaf where it first met the friendly ladybug.
The grouchy ladybug, who is now the wet, tired, and hungry ladybug, is this time more than happy to share the aphids. The friendly ladybug is still friendly, and together they clear the leaf of the pesky aphids, for which the leaf says “thank you.” The ladybugs leave to settle down for the night, and again the fireflies come out to dance around the moon.
The Grouchy Ladybug is a bad-tempered braggart who wont say \please\ or \thank you,\ wont share, and thinks its bigger and better than anyone else. Th...More at Christianbook.com
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