I met my first ladybug on my first night in my new apartment where I had moved into. The next day, I was to start graduate school. I was going to have a Master in Education, and would proceed to change the world.
The chili pepper red, and striking black spots on the ladybug's cloak grab our attention from the cartoon illustrations of book after book, and the ladybug seems larger than life. Like many others, I was introduced to the ladybug at an early age completely by means of these pictures.
Until that night, I had never realized just how tiny the ladybug really is.
That's why I would highly recommend that, prior to reading this book to a child, try your best to get your hands on a real ladybug, and let the child observe its brilliant colours and glossy shine. And even if nothing is said about its small size, it will be alright.
Because when the child sees the pictures of how Super Ladybug saves the elephant, camel, and whale who find themselves in terrible fixes, he or she is bound to be amazed - at how such a tiny creature could be capable of saving animals so much larger than itself!
Super Ladybug is winsome, ingenious, generous, helpful, and ... world changing. And just perhaps, Super Ladybug may inspire in us that same confidence, no matter how ill-equipped for our tasks we feel we are. "If I can do it," I almost heard Super Ladybug say, "so can you!"
Children interested in bugs, animals, tools, gadgets, problem-solving, the world, and saving the world should definitely read this book.
Teaching tip:
A post-reading writing activity could involve thinking up more instances of animals in problematic situations, and pretending to be Super Ladybug and coming up with ways of saving the animals.
An even more extensive writing activity could be to use this as a mentor text, and write a story about another unexpected superhero and its achievements.
Or, how about using this book as a starting point for a conversation on what we can do to change the world, one little step at a time?
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