Recently I read my first book in the Ladybug Girl series (Ladybug Girl and the Rescue Dogs), and only realized after reading it that a) it was part of a series, and b) it wasn’t my first book. I therefore hit my library to check out earlier books in the series, and was lucky to find the first book, the 2008 picture book Ladybug Girl.
Somewhere along the way, I also learned that creators David Somar and Jacky Davis, a husband-wife team, had based the books on their own kids. All I can say in response to that is, the kids are lucky. I’m not suggesting Ladybug Girl’s parents are perfect, but this first book in the series, even more than the later book in the series I read, really shows two things are true: they pay attention, and they see/remember what it means to be a kid.
Lulu announces that she is Ladybug Girl, and her family just goes with it (though admittedly, the brother is less supportive/more older brother-ish). When her mother tells Lulu she’ll have to fill her own time that day, because the mom is busy, Ladybug Girl essentially takes over. Ladybug Girl flits and floats from activity to activity–she visits the living room home library, but isn’t old enough to read, for example, and then takes Bingo the dog outside to pee. Once there, they explore the grass, watch (and help) ants, splash in a puddle, rebuild a crumbling stone wall, walk on a fallen log, try to join brother’s baseball game (they get turned down), dance with leaves, and, in general, enjoy the unbounded experience of childhood.
The images are lovely, and do an especially good job of using space: in one two-page spread, Ladybug Girl and Bingo stand on the left page, glaring, as the brother vanishes off the far side of the right page. Only the back half of his body is clearly visible.
There’s limited plot here, but an extremely realistic sense of how wandering and exploration can fill a day.
I’ll be joining Ladybug Girl on more of her adventures.
