The Grouchy Ladybug

Right now my three-year-old has an obsession with time.  He wear's a little monkey watch everywhere he goes (he even sleeps in it) and is constantly "telling" time.  Being a boy, he loves to "fight" and he loves bugs.  He has recently developed a grouchy side that is tough to deal with when it rears its ugly head.  It is for all these reasons that I checked out the book The Grouchy Ladybug from the library.  The Grouchy Ladybug is a story about a ladybug who arrives at a leaf full of aphids at 5 a.m. only to meet a nice ladybug who wants to eat the same aphids.  After offering to share, the nice ladybug is challenged to a fight by the grouchy one.  When the nice ladybug agrees, the grouchy ladybug backs off and decides to find "someone bigger" to fight instead.  The rest of the story follows the grouchy ladybug as she meets, and challenges, various animals to a fight.  It is a very cute story and my son LOVED it.  Not to mention that it is an Eric Carle book (The Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear) so the pictures are wonderful!  It is a great book to teach about time (especially reading a clock) and about feelings.  I also like how it led to a discussion about "sharing" with my three-year-old, something he continues to struggle with when people come to our house.   While I was looking for a picture of the book online I found a cool website that gives lots of activities, art projects, lesson plans etc. that you could do along with the book.  It also has packets you can download as well as links to color pages and other cool stuff.  You can CLICK HERE if you want to check it out.  So if you want a great read with fantastic illustrations and a great message for kids of all ages then  The Grouchy Ladybug is definitely for you!