Eric Carle - The Very Clumsy Click Beetle's Favorite Words Review

Eric Carle's "The Very Clumsy Click Beetle" details the adventures of a young click beetle that is down on his luck and stuck on his back. A wise old click beetle comes along to teach this greenhorn how to right himself.

The clumsy click beetle immediately feels ready for the challenge and prepares to click his way back to his feet, but his efforts leave him on his back. Various animals happen by, and each time the click beetle says "Look at me" as he tries to right himself. Those animal friends each praise his efforts and encourage him to keep trying.

Finally a person comes along and scares the poor click beetle as the wise beetle cries for him to click. This time he manages to click his way back to his feet to the praise of the wise old click beetle.

The really cool thing about this book is that it has an imbedded "clicker" that actually clicks as the clumsy beetle finally somersaults back to his feet.

My kids love this book and have requested that we check it out at the library numerous times. The story flows nicely with no more than a short paragraph on each page, so it keeps the attention of young children who are ready for short picture books. The pictures are lively and colorful, but probably the biggest attraction for this book is the clicking noise. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way this library book lost its clicking ability, but my kids still like the story.

My kids can certainly relate to the "Look at me!" as the click beetle tries over and over to meet his goal. Perhaps there is also a subtle lesson for parents here in that the wise click beetle observed, encouraged, but did not step in and flip the little beetle over. At times I struggle with that as a parent.

Eric Carle has a series of books similar to this including:
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Very Busy Spider
The Very Quiet Cricket
The Very Lonely Firefly

My Viewpoint:

This is a great picture book for young children that encourages perseverence and practice in learning new skills.