The Grouchy Ladybug (World of Eric Carle)

I understand why many people don't like the Grouchy Lady bug character running around saying, "Hey, you! Wanna fight?" But these people are missing the point. You are not supposed to like this ladybug. He's a jerk.

He doesn't want to share. He's rude, even when everyone around him is gracious. He's a blowhard and coward, who runs away when ever someone stands up to him. And in the end, he reaps what he sows and learns his lesson.

He is the perfect negative example for a moody, tempestuous 2 year old!

Our daughter had a rough day and lost her head at daycare, hitting and kicking other kids at the slightest provocation. Not cool. In addition to time outs, forced appologies to the other kids and parents, and stern reprimands from both my wife and me, we picked up this book at the library and it was the perfect thing.

After setting up what a jerk the Groucy Ladybug was, we pointed out that she had been a little grouchy that day. "Yeah," she agreed. We then went on to point out that not only is wrong to hit others, for all of the the reasons we listed that day, but also because sooner or later someone's going to hit back..."and that's no good. So why do it?" "Oh..." she said.

We're delighted to see this book is still in print. I'm buying my own copy right now. The book isn't perfect, but it's entertaining and educational.

After reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to my son enough times to have it memorized, I bought this book thinking that it would be a nice change, and expecting The Grouchy Ladybug to have a moral somewhere along the lines of Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (if you haven't read that to your kids, get it). I found The Grouchy Ladybug to be repetative to the point of parental abuse. Eric Carle has good children's books, but this one was definitely not my favorite. The only thing my son has learned from it is "Hey, You, Wanna Fight?" It was okay to read once or twice, but the next garage sale, it's going to mysteriously vanish. I would suggest The Very Hungry Caterpillar instead, if you don't have it.

I stumbled across this book here while searching for something else and noticed that it had a relatively low rating, and since we happen to love it, I began reading the negative reviews because I was so curious why so many people did not like it! I have been reading this book to my 2 1/2 year old now since he was 6 months, and my 7 1/2 year old too, and never once did it cross my mind that this book would be teaching them anything negative! After reading the bad reviews, I guess I understand why, but am always amazed that parents can be so paranoid. As other reviewers have mentioned, children are exposed to way worse language and imagery in everyday life, and I hardly consider this bright and colorful book a hazard or bad influence. Children's television, including the "safe" shows on PBS, can be way more disturbing. I have watched my child mimic unpleasant behavior from the show "Super Why," but not once has he threatened to pick a fight after reading this book. Here is my take...

Yes, the lady bug is a bully, and tries to pick fights on increasingly larger animals. Even my little guy gets that this is is a silly and cowardly way to behave. A clever reading style, and added discussion are a great way to support this lesson, even to very young children. My kids love to flip the page and see what bigger creature he tempts with a fight, only to quickly back down and move on. In classic Carle style, the collage animals are beautifully and creatively depicted. It also has wonderful formatting in the end with a unique "whales tail" page cutout that is super fun for children to flip. They love to "whap" the grouchy ladybug and watch him fly through the air! The repetitive text is also a classic Carle theme, and is an effective strategy for expressing concepts for toddlers and supports literacy for beginning readers too.

The passage of time is nicely portrayed in this book. Carle's books often aim to teach lessons, both about morality and sometimes practical ones as well. When 1st grade children are taught how to tell time, they begin with learning what each hour looks like on a clock, which is displayed on each page of this book as each encounter happens on the hour. In the end, it breaks down the hour into quarters when he challenges a very large whale. This book would be a great support for a 1st grade time lesson. Children at this age would benefit from the moral lesson too, as bad behavior is an everyday part of school life. What better way to address both!

My children laugh and repeat the highly controversial line in this book "wanna fight" while reading it, but don't go running around threatening people afterward. We got our book from Kohl's a few years back, along with an awesome stuffed ladybug(who actually looks quite friendly), and have enjoyed playing and acting out the story with it. They smile and giggle when I say the infamous line in my best grouchy ladybug voice while using our stuffed friend. Exposing children to things that you may not like is really the best way to teach them about your family values. If you never show them, how are they to know? My 7 year old is obsessed with all things army, and loves to build elaborate battle scenes with blocks, army men, and vehicles. We even *gasp* let him play with play guns. Rather than forbid this, we promote this type of creative play. We are an anti-war, peace-loving, open-minded household, and take the opportunity to discuss and remind him about the reality of war. He totally understands that fighting is bad, but loves the action! Isn't that normal for little boys(and girls!)?

My point here is that whether or not you like or appreciate this book and what it has to offer really depend on your parenting style. If you believe that shielding your child from all things that are bad or that you don't agree with is the way to protect them from it, then you may want to avoid this book. Stay away from "Rotten Ralph" too for that matter matter, which depicts the antics of a naughty but lovable cat(a favorite form my childhood!) Bottom line, you can over think this one very easily, but ultimately, this book is a classic, and offers bright and beautiful illustrations, and valuable lessons. Maybe the grouchy ladybug doesn't say sorry in the end, but the impression I get is that he has learned his lesson and may actually be a bit nicer in the future. Or maybe not, some people are just grumpy....isn't that life?

This book was the size of a square of toilet tissue, and I was expecting a full size paper towel. Perhaps I just overlooked something that said this was a very small book, not full-size. But I was extremely disappointed when I opened the package.

I had to make an entry for this book as it was the first time my daughter read a book by herself. Well with the help of a couple words.

The story is simple. Two ladybugs see a leaf with aphids and decide to have them. The nice ladybug will share but the grouchy ladybug wants them all and offers to fight for them. He is stared down by the nice ladybug and the grouch declares the nice ladybug is not big enough and flies off to find somebody to fight.

He flys by several bugs, reptiles and animals which get larger and larger as he keeps declaring them not to be big enough. The final animal a whale ends up slapping some sense into the ladybug.

It's a fun little book and it's repetitive so it will help a new reader as they learn.

As to the claims of fighting? Well I am not sure it's a valid concern. You don't see any tension and the other creatures respond with "If you insist" to which the answer is "Oh, you're not big enough"

The telling of time comes to play and there are drawings of clocks on each page show the time for each hour. This allowed an introduction to telling time for my girl.

The artwork is good and I liked the concept of the text getting bigger as each new creature got bigger.

Overall a fun read for my girl.

We got this book from the library. Since we returned it, my daughter (2) has continually asked for it. It is a bit repetitious (young children like that!) and that allowed my 2 and 4 year old to read it along with me. My 4 year-old liked the clocks. He is interested in learning to tell time. As far as the book's topic of fighting... in today's society where the topic of bullying is very popular, the fact that the other animals stood up to the ladybug's challenge and she continually backed down could be used as a lesson on avoiding being the victim of a bully. I certainly would not let that stop me from reading or buying the book.

This book is a fun book for small children to read. In it a grouchy lady bug attempts to start fights with other animals, until she meets her match, a whale. She learns her lesson in the end and isn't quit as grouchy. This book is one I would recommend for children to read, it teaches them first of all pick on somebody your own size and don't fight at all because it's much better to be nice.

I love The Bad-Tempered Ladybird (the UK title) of The Grouchy Ladybird. It is a really funny story about a cranky little ladybird that is in such a bad mood they don't know what to do with all that bad feeling so they go on a journey looking for a foe to battle (although of course the real culprit is their own anger). No one is big enough to fit the anger - it is that strong (anyone with two year olds out there?). So eventually the Ladybird meets a whale and asks it to fight and is ignored, flies on and a few minutes later meets the whale's fin and asks it to fight and is ignored and then meets that whale's tail 'and it gives him such a whack'!!! Really funny. Poor little thing didn't even know the size of the animal it was taking on. And it has some sense knocked in to it and makes it home to supper. A much more interesting story than Ten Rubber Ducks. Nice pictures. And in plot reminiscent of Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are. And a nice experience for a little person who is maybe just learning about anger and how to manage it appropriately.

Not sure how the paperback book compares as I always purchase hardcover books just because they hold up better. The hardcover book is beautifully illustrated with enough pages and story line to keep your little one reading and re-reading. Love this book! My little one is now in high-school and we still have the book we purchased on Amazon so many years ago. The book got my little one off to a great start and continues today (honors classes, exceptional verbal, math and writing skills. Also skilled in the arts and music). I attribute this to giving my little one the tools to succeed and it started with this book.

This was a gift.