The Grouchy Ladybug

by Eric Carle

From Eric Carle, New York Times bestselling author of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and From Head to Toe, comes the classic story of one very grouchy ladybug. Eric Carle's bright artwork and signature style will charm both ardent fans and new readers alike. As children follow the Grouchy Ladybug on her journey, they will learn the important concepts of time, size, and shape, as well as the benefits of friendship and good manners. For generations, The Grouchy Ladybug has delighted readers of all ages with the story of a bad-tempered bug who won't say "please" or "thank you," won't share, and thinks she is bigger and better than anyone else. Readers will love how this testy ladybug introduces them to many new animals and learns that maybe being grouchy isn’t always the best option.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Mathematics, Fantasy, Classics

48 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Eric Carle was an American author, designer and illustrator of children's books. His picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, first published in 1969, has been translated into more than 66 languages and sold more than 50 million copies. Carle's career as an illustrator and children's book author accelerated after he collaborated on Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. Carle illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote, and more than 145 million copies of his books have been sold around the world.
In 2003, the American Library Association awarded Carle the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (now called the Children's Literature Legacy Award), a prize for writers or illustrators of children's books published in the U.S. who have made lasting contributions to the field. Carle was also a U.S. nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2010.

Reviews

[Archit · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can such a small, little book teach such valuable lessons like friendship, manners and many others. Well, it really does.

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Hey you," said the grouchy ladybug.
"Want to fight?"
"If you insist," said the yellow jacket,
showing its stinger.
"Oh, you're not big enough," said
the grouchy ladybug
and flew off.

This was a fun read about a tiny grouchy ladybug that wants to punk bigger prey bigger and meaner than herself. She finally learns a lesson against a whale and decides to humble her nature.

Pictures are typical Eric Carle so beautiful and beautifully told.

Moral of the Story: Sometimes a bully just needs a good smacking to change their perspective.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lady bird is feeling grouchy and tries too start a fight with bigger and bigger animals. It was quite a humorous story and fun to read as an adult but I don't think I'd want to read this to a small child as I don't think the repeated references to starting a physical fight is something I would choose for that age group in general to read.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both of my grandsons loved this book. I was surprised. It is a little old fashioned , isn’t it? There weren’t any funny jokes like in The Bad Seed. We didn't get to copy the funny faces of Grumpy Monkey. But there is something magical about books with “bad” characters- Kiddos learn it is human to have a bad day or do something wrong. The magic is that we can help make things better with an apology or an attitude change, etc.

In TGL, the ladybug is a bully. Will fighting get us what we want? What happens when someone (or something) bigger comes along? The oldest loved it because there is a clock on each page -so he read the time while the youngest recited the couple of lines repeated on each page.

Out of a trip to the book store and 5 new books, this is the one read over and over and over………..

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I had read “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” I really wanted to read more books by Eric Carle. “The Grouchy Ladybug” is definitely no exception in reading some of Eric Carle’s great works! “The Grouchy Ladybug” is a book by Eric Carle and it is about how a grouchy ladybug tries to pick a fight with the other animals no matter how large they are. “The Grouchy Ladybug” is truly one of the most hilarious books about the consequences of bullying that every child will definitely enjoy!

The book starts off with a friendly ladybug seeing some aphids on a leaf and wanted to have them for breakfast but then a grouchy ladybug comes in and refused to share the aphids with the friendly ladybug and challenged the friendly ladybug to a fight. When the friendly ladybug agreed to the challenged, the grouchy ladybug suddenly back down and it goes to find a much larger animal to fight with. After the grouchy ladybug meets up with a praying mantis, a sparrow, a skunk and other animals, it finally meets up with the biggest animal of all…

What animal does the grouchy ladybug meet up with the end?

Read the book to find out!

Seriously, this is one creative and hilarious book from the great mind of Eric Carle and both the story and the illustrations contribute greatly to this cautionary tale about bullying. Eric Carle makes this story extremely as the grouchy ladybug is shown as your average bully as he bullies the other animals into trying to fight with it and I loved the way that the grouchy ladybug encounters one large animal and then moves on to a larger animal than the last and what was so hilarious about this was how the grouchy ladybug always stated whenever it meets an animal larger than itself:

“Oh, you’re not big enough!”

And that statement always makes me laugh because I always wondered about why the ladybug would want to pick a fight with someone who is much bigger than it is. It was also hilarious that the moment that the ladybug notices the larger animal’s special ability to defend itself, such as the skunk using its stink and the sparrow having a sharp beak, the grouchy ladybug just immediately runs off to find another animal. Eric Carle’s illustrations are simply beautiful and creative as the images are extremely colorful and keep the story running smoothly. The images that really stood out the most for me were the images of the grouchy ladybug itself as it always has a grouchy look on its face and looks so small when it flies up against the larger animals. My most favorite part of this book was whenever the grouchy ladybug meets the larger animals, the pages are sort of cut up to indicate each animal the ladybug passes and the larger the animal is, the longer the pages are. I also loved the way that there are clocks displayed at the top of the pages of each animal the ladybug meets as it indicates the time that the ladybug shows up to meet up with the animals.

Overall, “The Grouchy Ladybug” is a truly hilarious book that teaches a thing or two about the consequences of being a bully and any child who is a huge fan of Eric Carle’s will definitely get a kick out of this book. I would recommend this book to children ages four and up since there is nothing inappropriate in this book.

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Jem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty sweet book about a pretty pugnacious ladybug. He better not try to fight me or I'll knock his chiclets out! If he stepped to me, first I'd be like "What?!?!":






Then I'd be all, "Fool, you really wanna end up like this chump? I'll beat my own dad, I don't give a damn!":





Then I'd freakin' eat you and all that would be left is some green gunk cuz I eat fools like you for breakfast:

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book!

[Angela Blount · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming in execution, rhythmic in wording, and valuable in its many potential lessons. This may be Carle's best children's book.

A ladybug with an over-sized ego (and an attitude problem to match) faces off against increasingly larger opponents. His threats are met calmly by a colorful array of animals, each with their own unique traits and obvious advantages over the mouthy little aggressor. Each creature is politely but firmly prepared to stand up for itself against this pint-sized bully.

In the end the grouchy ladybug wastes an entire day looking for someone to fight, and comes full circle in a state of humility.

Interwoven with the plot and its understated-yet-teachable repetitions is the idea of time. A tiny clock appears in the corner of nearly every page, displaying the passage of each hour up until the climax, when the concept is broken down into 15 minute segments.

The hard board book is durable, beautifully illustrated in a vivid pastel/watercolor style, and more dense with words and interactive segments than most comparable works. All in all, this is one kids ages 3-7 will wear out, and parents have a longer shot at enduring.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hahaha! I mean I'm glad she learned her lesson about picking on people no matter what size they are big or small. I really loved the artwork. I mean it's Eric Carle so I definitely enjoy it. I think this was a lesson about being nice to people no matter who or what they are because you never know what could happen.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A grouchy ladybug spends the whole book picking fights against increasingly larger animals, running away after throwing down the gauntlet with a facetious, "You're not big enough anyway." I tired of the repetition long before the cowardly bully got her comeuppance.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 2 out of 5]

After reading quite a few books by this author, this is the one for me that really misses the mark. The grouchy lady bug throughout the story goes and tries to pick a fight with various other creatures. Although she never fights, I don't believe that this is the right subject for this age group. The word fight is repeated on nearly every page, so it really sticks into a child's mind. I loved the illustrations but I would not read this book out loud to a child.

[Joshua Arnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ladybug tries to fight a whale...imagine such a thing.

[Hannah Gies · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my favorite Eric Carle book.

[Yashpreet · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the bad tempered ladybird fly towards breakfast he started an argument with an friendly ladybird who he propositioned to an fight but decided not to because he was bigger than the polite ladybird. The bad tempered ladybird decided to find someone big enough to fight. Finally when we propositioned the whale slapped the ladybird and he realised the consequences to his actions and he stopped being bad tempered.

I think this is a good book in the way it’s written with its repetitive streak. The pages are also different in this book, with 12 pages not the same size as the rest of the book, indicating different times of the day and attempts the ladybird made to have a fight with animals. Furthermore I believe the message in this story is, it does not take much effort to be polite but it takes a lot of effort to be bad tempered.

This book uses A LOT of repetition so this would be great for a starter reader who needs reassurance. Another reason why I liked this story is because of the way the twelve animals were described acting out a characteristic action of their animal, for instance the gorilla who beated its chest.
I would recommend this book for its great illustrations and creative book design along with its funny story.

[Nicola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miss 3 and I normally love Eric Carle's books but the storyline of the grumpy ladybug looking for a fight didn't work for her. What she did like was flicking the tab like pages and naming the different animals that the ladybug encounters. I also needed to stress more explicitly for her the moral of the story which was that the ladybug would have been better off being kind and sharing in the first place (although then she wouldn't have had her big adventure!).

What was useful about the story, was it's foreword and teaching capacity about why ladybugs are good to have in the garden. It was perfect timing as we've just had some show up and were able to tie the book in with looking at insects at the gardens and how ladybugs are great (because they eat the aphids) and snails are bad (because they eat the vegetables meant for our dinner).

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book and I love the connected universe that the author is setting up. The only reason that this ladybug is so grouchy is that the very hungry caterpillar ate the ladybug's one apple two pares three plums four strawberries five oranges one piece of cake one ice cream cone one pickle one slice of swiss cheese one slice of salami one lollipop one piece of cherry pie one sausage one cupcake and one slice of watermelon. This book is about the struggle that a ladybug goes through after being betrayed by her best friend the caterpillar and not trusting anyone ever again. This book gets a 0 out of 72 for being my favorite book ever.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Het lievenheersbeestje dat niet lief deed
*Dutch title


Het vervelende lieveheersbeestje zegt geen dankjewel. Hij wil met niemand delen en maakt met iedereen ruzie. Het lieveheersbeestje uit dit boek leert dat je met onaardig zijn geen vrienden maakt. Niemand wilt met je spelen als je niet lief bent.

Extra wordt er het verschil in groot en klein + klokkijken genoemd.


Herkenbaar voor peuters en kleuters. Leerzaam (voor)lees verhaal.

[Priscilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like how the book is illustrated. The Grouchy Ladybug is one of the most funniest books I have ever read. there are so many concept being taught in this story. children will definitely enjoy this book.

[Mónica Cordero Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

No sólo disfrute este libro la primera vez que lo leí. también lo hice cuando un poquitín más mayor se lo leía a mi hermano pequeño. Para mi todo un clásico que todo niño y toda niña debería leer. Un cuento como lo que tiene que ser, una historia con moraleja.

[Khari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Today's Project Picture book review!

This one is not so bad. I didn't like it, but I can see why this one might be an actually good book for a kid. It is teaching the concept of time and size and doing so in an amusing way, the repetition of the dialogue between the grouchy ladybug and all of his erstwhile opponents would give something for the kids to chime along with and might even help with literacy later on, so for that I give it an A+. I even give it an A+ because of how the regular ladybug stands her ground and doesn't give in to being bullied by the grouchy one. An excellent lesson for anyone, don't let someone force you away from something you like by threatening you, stand up for yourself. More often than not, they are actually rather cowardly inside and have never had someone stand up to them and if you do, they won't know what to do. Good life lesson.

That being said. I still don't like his art.

Story: Good
Art: Meh
Price: $9.99!

Now I'm motivated to go and see what the last book I bought that was 9.99 or more was. Huh, I bought Fault Lines three books ago in March and that was $14.12. Now I wonder what percentage of books I buy are more or less than 9.99...you know, I actually know how to run that statistical test now! What?! A practical application of what I am learning?!?!!? Amazing.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun to read with my daughter! A very entertaining way to teach kindness and manners. 🐞

[Marijn Sikken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Geniaal, vooral voorlezen met gekke stemmetjes

[Christina Starks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eric Carle is a very famous children’s literature author. His illustrations are so powerful and creative. The Grouchy Ladybug is also known as The Bad-Tempered Ladybird. Throughout this story a very stubborn ladybug challenges another ladybug to fight for some aphids. The stubborn ladybug says (a repeated phrase throughout the whole book) that he isn’t big enough. For the remainder of the book, the ladybug goes around finding other creatures to challenge and continues to say that they aren’t big enough. By the end of the story, the ladybug gets flung back to her starting point. She realized that she has been grumpy all day and it got her absolutely nowhere, and she is hungry.

One thing that I absolutely love about this book is the incorporation of the clock. In first grade, students are beginning to learn how to tell time. I will use this book to engage students in practice with their clocks. I would read through the book by developing the concepts of print first. Then I would distribute individual clocks to each student to use during the reading. While I read through the book a second time, I would have the students display the specific times on their clocks.

This book would also help students understand the importance of having a good attitude and not being a bully. The ladybug was exhausted at the end of the day from being so grumpy. I would have students create a collective list of ways to avoid being grumpy in the classroom.

[Rhonda Puente-Trevino · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Grouchy Ladybug is about a grumpy ladybug who is looking to pick a fight with a pattern of animals every hour on the hour. Only to find herself tired and exhausted but learns to be grateful and a lot less grumpy. Eric Carlebuilds interest and young readers curious as the subtle transition of time and illustration throughout the story.

The Grouchy Ladybug is recommended for children's literature. Suggested guided reading level book, 2.8 AR by Scholastic.com The best of the predictable sometimes called pattern books, are lively, use interesting words, and invite children to chime in (Young, pg. 105). For example, the repeating patterns and language that engages young readers in this picture book.

You won't be disappointed purchasing this book along with another all time favorite The Very Hungry Catepillar for every young reader.

[Canette Arille · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is about a ladybug who is grumpy and has bad manners. She thinks she is better than others and doesn't want to share anything.
One morning, she notices leaves with aphids on them and wants to eat them for breakfast. But another ladybug wants to eat them too. The grumpy ladybug asks if she wants to fight her over these aphids? Friendly Ladybug says Yes, but grumpy Ladybug suddenly backs out, saying "oh, You are not big enough for me to fight."
The friendly ladybug suggests looking for someone bigger, to which the grumpy ladybug agrees and sets off on a journey.
She asks every animal she meets if they want to fight her. Everyone agrees, but she keeps backing down, saying, "Oh, You are not big enough for me to fight. And flies away. Encountering larger and larger animals, Ladybug becomes frightened by the whale's tail. Returns to the meadow, where she eats the aphids from the leaf. She says, ,,Thank You,, to the friendly ladybug.

Grumpy ladybug wants to fight when something is not what she wants.
But she doesn't really want to fight anyone, she just wants to scare everyone, so that it will be the way she wants. At the end of the book, the ladybug changes behavior and is nice.

This book of Eric Carle is very nice

[Jilly Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle. I was reading this book to my young, impressionable son, assuming from the bright colors that it would be an appropriate piece of reading material for his young mind. I was appalled to discover that this book is a hate crime against the Jewish community all around the world. The Ladybug in question, who is surly, selfish, and rude, is depicted with an enormous Jewish nose, shouting "Go away!" at the very start of the book. Upon closer inspection, it becomes transparently obvious that the whole book is a metaphor for the whole idea of Jews that led to our persecution in Nazi Germany. The ladybug is shown as a rootless pugilist, that flies all around the world antagonizing others, much like us Jews are constantly accused of taking our religious beliefs around the world to undermine our host nations. This book is unbelievably dangerous...I cannot imagine what would happen if it were to get into the wrong hands.

[Emma Manthey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The grouchy ladybug was one of my favorite books as a kid. It is about a ladybug who wanted to fight different animals. They start to get bigger and bigger throughout the book, and every time he says the animal is not big enough for him to fight and he goes to the next animal. Every page also has a time in the corner that is the time of the day. The sun also goes up and down as the day goes along and the story progresses. This would be a good book to teach time with since it has clocks in the book and it moves throughout the book. It can also be great for teacher to teach about story sequencing. It would be great for people to read for their children at a young age around 3, and they could read it themselves in kindergarten to second grade depending on their level.

[Amit Tiwary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eric Carle is the master craftsman. Numero Uno.

This book was recommended by Arhat's school. I was apprehensive because at first go of my reading I found it little verbose. Little much text than what Arhat's other books have.

But bingo! Arhat loved this one. The strength of the book is certainly the graphics (as usual :-)) but what appealed the kid is the content and repetitiveness in the content.

This is a wonderful book. Your kid will love this. You will love this too.

[Shannon Molina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome. The grouchy ladybug was acting tough with the other ladybug and as she went on to find someone else who was bigger than her made me think how this story could show a child that there is always someone else bigger than them. Sharing is caring. The ladybug had to go through a lot of animals that were not afraid of her and was ready to fight whenever. I like this book and enjoyed reading it.

[Boom! · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grouchy is definitely the choice word to describe this feisty ladybug. The Grouchy Ladybug by Carle lives up to the standard. The story is wonderful and amusing, the illustrations are delightful. I love that the ladybug meets other animals and they appear in size order and with the proper names. There is a lot of room to have different discussions with kids which is always a bonus.