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The very clumsy click beetle has no trouble with the clicking and flipping part, but it does have trouble landing on its feet. The young beetle tries and tries again, encouraged by an ambling turtle, a slithering snail, and a scurrying mouse. Finally, when a curious boy approaches, the beetle takes coaching from a wise old click beetle ("QUICK, CLICK and FLIP!") and succeeds. Children will love the bright, bold, tissue-paper illustrations that tell this story of perseverance, as well as--of course--the unusual clicking sound (emanating from an electronic chip with built-in battery and light sensor) that accompanies this playful book. (Click to see a sample spread. Copyright 1999 by Eric Carle. Permission of Philomel Books.) (Preschool and older) --Karin Snelson
I think a teacher or parent might be able to encourage a child to enjoy the click beetle book by incorporating it into a discussion about bugs. Also, a child who is fascinated with bugs might enjoy it. However, for the average child, I recommend buying The Very Quiet Cricket instead of the Beetle book. For a child who already has and loves the cricket book, I recommend buying Carle's The Very Lonely Firefly, which has fireflies that light up. My library kids like to crawl under desks to enjoy that book in the dark.
The little click beetle repeatedly strives in the story to CLICK and flip over onto his feet, a feat shown to him by an older, wiser click beetle. He tries to show this new trick to a variety of other critters with no success. The critters encourage him to keep trying.
We used this story in class to discuss the importance of persistence and practice to learn something new. This book also sparked a discussion about being kind and respectful, as we talked about how things might have been different if the critters in the story had ridiculed the click beetle for his failure instead of encouraging him. You could challenge children to tell how the ending would have been different if the little click beetle hadn't mastered his CLICK at the right time at the end.
Definitely a classroom staple, along with most of Eric Carle's other titles.
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