Beetle Boy [Paperback]

Lawrence David (Author), Delphine Durand (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

Gregory Sampson wakes up one morning and finds that he's become a giant bug! A purple-brown beetle, to be exact. But no one notices the metamorphosis-not Gregory's parents, not his little sister, not his teachers, not even the kids at school. Only his best friend, Michael, sees the change. And Michael wants his friend back just as much as Gregory wants to be his old self again. But why did he go from boy to bug? And why don't people seem to care? As Gregory searches for answers-and a way to recover his identity-a poignant story unfolds about the need for love and recognition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When second grader Gregory Sampson wakes up one morning to discover that he has become a giant beetle, his ensuing day is distinctly Kafka-esque, yet in a totally childlike way. For one blighted day, young hard-shelled Gregory faces an extreme version of the common outrage of the 6- to 8-year-old whose parents have ceased watching and admiring his every toddling move: No one notices him one bit. Not when his slippery beetle self falls down the stairs and he lies there wriggling all six legs in the air. Not when he waves a claw through the air at the breakfast table. Not even when he bellows across the kitchen, "Look at me. I'm a giant beetle."

Lawrence David's deft and buoyant comprehension of family life enables him to relate this tale of childhood invisibility with both pathos and humor. To Gregory's pronouncement, the father replies: "And I'm a hippo." "You've always been our little bug-a-boo," says the mom, her eyes on the morning headlines. His sister merely takes his bacon, murmuring, "Do bugs like bacon?" Gregory's changes get noticed, finally, by his best friend Michael.

Despite the frustrating oblivion of his family, the beetle boy's adaptive abilities keep the story brave and easygoing. Even when Gregory's at the height of his confusion, we see him cutting extra armholes in his shirt for his two new arms ("Or were they legs?"), whopping a soccer ball with his antenna to make a score, and generously offering to use his extra arms to carry his clueless sister's backpack. In equal measure, Delphine Durand's busy, vivacious illustrations convey that no matter the depth of a problem, life itself doesn't lose all its color.

In this wonderfully told story, the parents don't remain distracted forever, and the child--forgiving of their trespasses--accepts, and is healed by, their tardy recognition of the huge changes they didn't see. It's a moving, beautifully rendered moment--and most certainly powerful enough to turn a six-legged bug back into a little boy. (Ages 6 and older) --Jean Lenihan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In this tongue-in-cheek story inspired by Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis," a second grader copes with being a bug for a day. Durand (The Snoops) provides gouaches of a boy-size but not-too-gross brown bug clad in a plaid shirt, surrounded by puppetlike humans with elongated noses and normal kids' toys. David (The Good Little Girl) sets a breezy tone by mimicking Kafka's memorable opening line: "Gregory Sampson woke one morning to discover that he had become a giant beetle." Baffled by his odd predicament, Gregory cuts extra armholes in his shirt and finds that his extra legs help him count to six in math class. In his hurry to eat breakfast and catch the school bus, the ovoid fellow tumbles down the stairs and lands on his carapace; "after a few minutes of wriggling, he was able to grab hold of the banister and flip himself over." Yet readers may find it troubling that no one, with the exception of his best friend, notices his inexplicable transformation. The author renders the boy invisible to adults and fellow students and derives most of his humor from deadpan allusions to the classic story, which may get a chuckle from Kafka fans but will be unfamiliar to beginning readers. Durand strikes a delicate balance between real and surreal elements in his imaginative artwork, but the tale ends flatly, with a banal plea for good parenting: poor Gregory just needs loving attention, and the only way he can get it is by scuttling across the ceiling. Ages 6-up.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dragonfly Books (May 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440414423
• ISBN-13: 978-0440414421
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,335,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is one funny book!, March 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beetle Boy (Hardcover)

My partner and I bought this book for a seven year old boy... unfortunately, we kept it for ourselves and he got something else! We read it in the store and laughed and laughed, then took it home and read it a few more times, then it ended up on our bookshelf. But now that I've found it here at Amazon, we'll be ordering more copies for all the kids in our lives. The story is VERY loosely based on Kafka's "Metamorphosis"... a boy wakes up one morning to find that he is a bug. No one seems to notice, except for his best friend, who is quite concerned. Don't worry though, it all works out okay. The drawings are great and the text is fun for kids... and obviously for adults as well!

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than Pokémon, December 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beetle Boy (Hardcover)

I sent this to my eight year old nephew and I hear he's very upset that he's not Beetle Boy. He's memorized much of the book already. It's replaced Pokémon as his reason for living. I've read it twice myself and it's a very cool, fantastically funny and sweet book.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beetle Boy, January 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Beetle Boy (Hardcover)

Gegory turns into a bug and only his best friend notices. The humor will be appreciated by any adult who has either raised or taught a 2nd grader like Gregory, who experiences a transformation. This book has excellent color illustrations and will be of interest to students from the 1st grade through the 3rd grade levels.