Children's Book Reviews

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Clara Caterpillar by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrated by Henry Cole
HarperCollins, May, 2001
Picture Books, 40 pages
ISBN: 0060289953
Ages 4-8
Ordering information:
Amazon.com

Clara Caterpillar
by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrated by Henry Cole

All children love to find a caterpillar and watch it go through its life cycle, and all children can relate to a story about feeling sad when another child says something mean about one's appearance. Pamela Duncan Edwards has told a sensitive tale that uses these two themes in a very positive way. Written almost as a fable, the story of the little cabbage caterpillar who finds out that it is all right to be plain, and that one may be clever while being plain is a tale that children will enjoy. Read this story to a child and it will teach kindness along with acceptance and even admiration of those who may not appear as good looking or talented as others.

The story of Clara, the cream-colored cabbage caterpillar and her nemesis, Catisha, the beautiful red caterpillar who will grow into a beautiful red butterfly is a cautionary tale about the fact that those who may not seem like winners when very young, may actually become very successful. Ms. Edwards also teaches some important facts about nature. Camouflage is a more successful strategy against being eaten than beautiful color and an attractive appearance.

The inspiring tale of Clara is enhanced by Henry Cole's large, beautiful close-ups of the tiny world of insects that takes place every day all around us. Mr. Cole's striking, brilliantly colored illustrations along with the cartoon like expressions on the faces of the creatures he paints create a vehicle that beautifully matches and enhances the story of the plain little caterpillar.

Clara Caterpillar is a book that both parent and child will cherish because of the lessons that it teaches and the beauty of its illustrations .

-- Sarah Reeves White

Good Thing You're Not an Octopus by Julie Markes, Pictures by Maggie Smith
HarperCollins, Feb., 2001
Picture Book, 40 pages
ISBN: 006028465X
Ages 4-8
Ordering information:
Amazon.com

Good Thing You're Not an Octopus is an excellent book to pull off the shelf when a child is feeling negative about the daily chores of life, which include putting on one's clothes, brushing, one's teeth, and taking a nap. It is a book that uses repetition of phrases combined with ridiculous situations to make each point. The story begins by comparing the trials of a little boy who only has to put his two legs into two pant legs to an octopus who would have to put eight legs into his pants. Likewise, a caterpillar would have to put shoes on eighteen feet compared to a little boy who only has to put shoes on two feet. And what child would not feel luckier than a baby bear at nap time, when a baby bear has to nap all winter long? A shark would have to brush two hundred teeth.

Maggie Smith draws comical illustrations of the little boy going through an entire day of things he does not really want to do. The illustrations are large, and show the different animals appearing in the child's own environment. A mother tiger is shown licking her cub to clean him up, while the little boy in the same room is sitting in his bathtub. Sitting beside the boy who is seated in his car seat is a baby kangaroo, who has to sit in his mother's pouch in the back seat of the family car. Since the baby animals are shown having the same problems right beside the little boy, this brings the situation into focus for the child.

For those occasional days when a child feels negative about everything an adult wants him to do Good Thing You're Not an Octopus can bring a sense of humor into the situation and make things more pleasant for everyone.

-- Sarah Reeves White

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Children's Book Reviews

Clara Caterpillar by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrated by Henry Cole

Good Thing You're Not an Octopus by Julie Markes, Pictures by Maggie Smith