Don't Be A Grump! (The Bad-tempered Ladybird - Eric Carle)

Member Name: tb4ms

Product:	The Bad-tempered Ladybird - Eric Carle
Date:	16/04/07 (1689 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent story. Great illustrations and very educational!

Disadvantages: Explaining what aphids are & the page is prone to ripping when the whale's tail slaps!

The bad-tempered ladybird is yet another one of Eric Carle's fantastically illustrated and educational picture books. In short it's about a bad-tempered ladybird who through experience turns in to a happier little bug! (One can only hope that we all become happier bugs!)

~ The Story ~

A friendly ladybird is eating a breakfast of aphids on a leaf when it is joined by a v bad-tempered ladybird (I can sympathise with morning grumpiness!) who also wants to eat the aphids but refuses to share them.........

"No, they're mine, all mine or do you want to fight for them?"

The friendly ladybird says "If you insist" but with cowardice, the grump replies " Oh, you're not big enough!" and flies off....

The bad-tempered ladybird then proceeds to pick a fight with every animal he meets:

'At 6 o'clock it met a wasp. "Hey you, want to fight?" "If you insist" said the wasp showing it's stinger. "Oh you're not big enough" said the bad-tempered ladybird and flew off'

As the story progresses, the animals that the ladybird challenges to a fight, get bigger and bigger and more venomous, e.g. a lobster with it's claws, a hynena with it's large teeth , a gorilla beating it's chest...........and so on and so on. He challenges each new, larger animal and comes up with the same excuse every time of "Oh, you're not big enough!"

Each new animal is met at a different 'o'clock' time.

Until eventually the ladybird meets a whale who doesn't respond......so it flies off and asks the whale's flipper if it wants to fight but gets no answer. So he flies on to the whale's fin and with no reply from that he flies on to the whale's tail where it gets such a HUGE slap that it lands back where it started from with the friendly ladybird still eating the aphids.

The other ladybird, still retaining it's courteousness suggests that the grump shares the remaining aphids. The bad-tempered ladybird is so so tired and hungry that he accepts the offer to share and thanks the other ladybird.............and so they finish off all of the aphids.

The story ends happily with both the ladybirds helping the leaf by eating the aphids and both going to sleep as the fireflies come out to dance around the moon.

~ Illustrations and Layout of the book ~

Eric Carle, as clever and as innovative as ever has different size pages for each animal............as every animal gets bigger, so do the pages.

The first 2 pages are 'full size' but when the ladybird meets the wasp it's a much, much smaller page, the stag beetle is a slightly larger page, followed by the praying mantis and so on and so forth until we get to the whale who takes up 3 and 1/2 pages so as to demonstrate it's enormity!!

The clever part is when the whale's tail slaps the ladybird (probably without even realising). The whale's tail is half a page, cut out in the shape of a tail and children love turning this page over with a huge slap, so much so that my whale's tail is slightly ripped!

At the top of each page, there is a clock depicting each o'clock time as the story progresses...........when the whale 'starts to play' the time is shown in quarter of the hour, which helps to involve older children.

Eric Carle has also very cleverly shown how the sun rises throughout the day.........his use of the sun going up the different size pages and then down again is very innovative, showing the cycle of the day.

The drawings of each of the very unusual animals, that a lot of children may not have heard of prior to this story (praying mantis, skunk etc) are extremeley detailed.

Carle uses his collage effect drawings, as per usual which children can relate to; the sea in which the whale is swimming is very much how children of 4 - 6 would depict it. Very cleverly done by Eric Carle.


This for me, is the most elaborately illustrated of Carle's books as it shows a huge amount of educational benefits, just through the illustrations.

Thus leading me to ...............................

~ Educational values of the book ~

SO MANY!!

* It introduces children to a multitude of animals, from a wasp to a praying mantis, to a hyena etc.............
* It allows adults to discuss the importance of manners.
* To teach about right and wrong, co-operation and conflict and standing up against 'bullies' (although I'm not overly keen on that terminology.)
* It aids in the teaching of time from o'clock to quarter past, half past and quarter to the hour.
* It teaches children about the passing of time and how the sun rises and falls as the day progresses back in to night.
* So many children and adults have to deal with anger and frustration when someone upsets them. This book is a great starting point to discuss how these feelings sometimes get us nowhere, as was the case with the bad-tempered ladybird.
* The importance of sharing and not being greedy.
* In mathematical terms it is great for teaching very young children about the difference in size as each animal is larger than the previous one.
* Teaches children about the importance of friends.

~ Age range ~

In my experience this is ideal for 3 - 7 year olds. Each age group can deliberate the different concept / issue that is relevant to their age group.

~ Price & Publishers ~

This book has been published by Puffin and Hamish Hamilton Ltd.

My paperback Puffin edition (ISBN: 0-14-050398-6) was £5.99 but check out www.amazon.co.uk as some of their used and new prices start from £1.86

The book has also been published in hardcover from 4.75

Well worth a 'scout' on the net for better bargains.

This book has also been produced, I think for the American market as the 'Grouchy Ladybug', same story just a different title for a different market.


~ Conclusion ~

As you can probably see from my reviews, I think of Eric Carle as an outstanding author and illustrator but for me this stands head and shoulders above the rest of his books due to it's HUGE educational values. A true 'must have' book for anyone with young children or for those of you working with children.....and for those of you who have no children around you, it's a great read. It reminds us, as adults that we shouldn't be as 'grouchy' as we sometimes are!!

~ Other Eric Carle books ~
From head to toe
The very hungry caterpillar
Rooster's off to see the world
The very busy spider

...............and many, many more!!

Summary: A superb children's book teaching about time & how we shouldn't be grumpy!