HEAR the beetle CLICK as it flips through the pages of this book and learns how to land on its feet! Small readers will recognize and empathize with the clumsy little beetle’s eagerness to learn what the older beetle can already do so well. They will understand, too, its frustration when at first it fails. And they will surely rejoice in its eventual spectacular triumph.
STARRED REVIEW “Carle’s charming little hero gets stuck on its back and can’t get up. An elder click beetle advises the youngster how to right itself, but it can’t quite get the hang of flipping itself over on its legs. Encouraged by a turtle, a snail, a worm, and a mouse, the small creature becomes more and more discouraged as it keeps landing on its back. When a curious boy starts investigating, the beetle becomes frightened and executes the perfect click and flip to land on its feet. The book features a clicking sound effect at the end, courtesy of a strategically placed microchip. Done in colored tissue paper collage, the illustrations burst from the page and are charmingly rendered. When the boy is introduced, readers see him from the beetle’s perspective, as just two huge feet. Sure to be loved and requested again and again, Click Beetle is a well-crafted story, joyfully illustrated, that speaks to the hearts of young children.”
– by Jane Claes, School Library Journal starred review, December, 1999
“This winning edition to Carle’s ouevre stars a clumsy click beetle, an insect whose distinctive locomotion is explained in an opening note: when it falls on its back, a click beetle cannot roll over. Instead, it stretches, clicks, and then flips through the air. After being shown how to land on its feet by a wise mentor, this young beetle is ready to strut its stuff. But as an earthworm, turtle, snail, and mouse saunter by, the beetle can land only on its back. The threat of a young boy’s outstretched plam finally motivates the bug to get going. All of Carle’s Very Special books feature some added sensory feature. Here, the microchip that replicates the insect’s noise is a well-placed surprise. Carle’s trademark artwork, featuring large, colorful collages set against expansive white space, is—as always—a strong attribute. Although Carle treads familiar territory here, young preschoolers won’t mind; they’ll relate to the protagonist’s cry of Look at me! and the final acknowledgement, You have done it!”
– by Julie Corsaro, Booklist, October 1, 1999
