The Bad-tempered Ladybird

The Bad-Tempered Ladybird is another beautifully illustrated picture book by Eric Carle. At the start of the story a friendly ladybird is eating a breakfast of aphids on a leaf, when it is joined by a very bad-tempered ladybird who also wants to eat the aphids, but refuses to share.

The bad-tempered ladybird then proceeds to pick a fight with every animal he meets, never satisfied that they are big enough to fight. As the story progresses, the animals get bigger and bigger and this would be a good story to discuss the concept of size with a young child. The book is cleverly laid out and as the animals get bigger, so to do the pages. The illustrations in this book are of the usual high standard expected from Eric Carle. This book would also be excellent for consolidating a child's understanding of time, as at the top of each page it shows a clock face with the time that the bad-tempered ladybird meets each animal.

Finally, the bad-tempered ladybird arrives back where it started and is now prepared to share the aphids with the friendly ladybird. The story ends happily with the ladybirds helping the leaf by eating the aphids and both ladybirds going to sleep, as the fireflies come out to dance around the moon.

This book would be suitable for children aged 4-7 years old. --Amanda York

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didn't think the message was good for young children - Rated
Bought this book for my pre-school group, the ladybird is not only bad tempered but wants to fight every creature he mets. I don't want to promote fighting or violence so this book has only been read twice.I was very disapointed because other eric carle book are Fab.

disappointed - Rated
I bought this book for my 6 year old niece after reading the reviews posted, but I was very disappointed.I showed it to my husband and my 23 year old daughter and they too felt that it was not suitable for my niece. I couldn't see what the moral of this story was as it seemed to promote a confrontational aspect of life, which I felt not right for a child of 6. I bought the tiniest mermaid and she loved it

Perfect - Rated
I loved this book as a child and now my 5 year old and almost 2 year old love it too. It is timeless, and with the animals getting ever larger along with the text very clever too. It is also a good early teacher of the concept of time with the Bad Tempered Ladybird meeting each different animal at 'something' O'clock.

Enjoyable for reader and child - Rated
My 6 year old son was offered this book last year, and we both still enjoy reading this fun and morally relevant story. As the scenario repeats itself over the pages with different animals, the child quickly picks it up and joins in to act the bad tempered ladybird. An happy end rounds it up perfectly. I recommand it for 4 year olds to young readers.

The Bad Tempered Ladybird is a deceptively educational book. - Rated
This delightful book is one of the most popular Eric Carle stories at the nursery where I teach. The children (aged from three to five) love the colourful pictures, and, of course, the ladybird is one creature that fascinates all children. We have been able to draw a great deal of work from this deceptively simple little book. We retell the story, thus developing language skills, add spots to a big ladybird to help counting skills, use collage to produce our own ladybirds (emulating Carle's quirky illustrative style) and use paint programs on the school computers to draw ladybirds (and develop ICT skills), not to mention all the scientific observation the story inspires! Most of all, though, we enjoy the book for what it is: an enjoyable story with attractive illustrations and a strong storyline. We base almost all of our work for a whole half term on Eric Carle stories and the only rival to the bad tempered ladybird's place in "Nursery Two"'s affections is 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'!