Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug!

by Mem Fox, Laura Ljungkvist (Illustrator)

Overview

Can you locate Ladybug? A charming, playful seek-and-find adventure from beloved author Mem Fox.

Yoo-hoo, Ladybug!
Where are you?
There you are…
afloat in the bath,
with Duck and Giraffe!

Ladybug loves to hide. Come along on a treasure hunt to find this sneaky little bug, wherever she may be! Children will delight in this picture book game of hide-and-seek and will eagerly read along, pointing out Ladybug’s newest and cleverest hiding spot time and again.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442434004
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	05/07/2013
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	120,351
Product dimensions:	8.38(w) x 10.12(h) x 0.46(d)
Lexile:	BR (what's this?)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Mem Fox is an educator and international literacy expert, and her many acclaimed picture books for young children include Yoo-Hoo, Ladybug!; Hello Baby!; Baby Bedtime; the bestselling modern classics Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and Time for Bed; and, for adults, Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever. She lives in Adelaide, Australia. Visit her at MemFox.net.

Laura Ljungkvist has written and illustrated several picture books, including Pepi Sings a New Song and Follow the Line, which was a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year. Laura’s dynamic artwork has been featured in The New Yorker as well as in merchandising and advertising campaigns for Barney’s, Neiman Marcus, IKEA, and MoMA. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

Effervescent graphics and an engrossing hide-and-seek game make this a diverting book to share. “Yoo-hoo, Ladybug! Where are you?” calls a voice at the start of a series of puzzles. “There you are...” the voice continues, directing readers to full-page collages cluttered with cartoon toys, animals, and objects—from letter blocks and dice to an abstract brown squirrel and giraffe. Amid this array of colors, patterns, and shapes, acute observers may the beetle’s red, black-spotted rear end. A page turn reveals a circular close-up, zooming in on Ladybug, who peeks from her hiding place to smile at readers (“tucked in a box/ with Rabbit and Fox”). Fox’s (Tell Me About Your Day Today) repetitive phrases appear on Easter egg?hued pages opposite Ljungkvist’s cacophonous digital art and punchy palette, whose playroom messiness couldn’t be farther from her compulsively tidy Follow the Line and its sequels. Recurring visual motifs come together in a full-spread finale, including a patterned floor, pink-striped wallpaper, photographs of toy-size Volvos, Beetles, and Mini Coopers, and (of course) one Ladybug. Young children will enjoy mastering this visual game. Ages 2?5. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Readers join the narrator in searching for a smiling ladybug amidst a jumble of recurring objects arranged in various settings…. The sprightly digital illustrations teeming with patterned backgrounds and objects allow Ms. L. to conceal herself behind teddy bears, chickens, toy rabbits, etc.

May June 2013 The Horn Book

"In this seek-and-find picture book, a cheerful ladybug hides in a series of places familiar to young children: a bathtub full of toys, a playroom, a cluttered staircase. Energetic rhyming verses introduce each scene and invite preschoolers to find the beetle.... The book makes excellent use of white backgrounds to direct attention and provide breathing space. Ljungkvist’s digital illustrations are colorful and interesting, but not too busy. They promote comfort and confidence by repeating objects, such as a robot and blocks that spell out “ladybug” in different configurations."

"A ladybug that likes to hide drives the action in this cheery, rhyming romp. “Yoo-hoo, Ladybug! Where are you?” This lilting refrain beckons children to hunt for the little beetle amid teeming, digitally rendered household toyscapes.... Ljungkvist includes enough animals, toys and recurring details...to invite plenty of scrutiny...a well-ordered experience that will both entertain and instruct young children. Ljungkvist’s pictures pay homage to Barbara Cooney’s Chanticleer and the Fox, Leo Lionni’s windup mouse and Pat Hutchins’s Rosie. Fox’s playful rhymes steer young preschoolers along on this very satisfying excursion."

“Readers join the narrator in searching for a smiling ladybug amidst a jumble of recurring objects arranged in various settings…. The sprightly digital illustrations teeming with patterned backgrounds and objects allow Ms. L. to conceal herself behind teddy bears, chickens, toy rabbits, etc.”

“Effervescent graphics and an engrossing hide-and-seek game make this a diverting book to share…. Fox’s (Tell Me About Your Day Today) repetitive phrases appear on Easter egg–hued pages opposite Ljungkvist’s cacophonous digital art and punchy palette, whose playroom messiness couldn’t be farther from her compulsively tidy Follow the Line and its sequels…. Young children will enjoy mastering this visual game.

From the Publisher

"“Ladybug loves to hide,” begins this brightly illustrated picture book. Luckily for young hide-and-seek fans, she hides in plain sight, but she isn’t always easy to find in a picture that’s chock-full of toys and household objects.... Acutely aware of how preschoolers respond to language, Fox leads them through the game with a brief, pleasing text....Playful!"

Booklist

In answer to "Yoo-hoo, Ladybug! Where are you?" the child is to find a lady bug hiding in pictures of toys and other objects of interest to children. The child answers "There you are. . ." and points to the hidden lady bug. The first picture shows toys in a bathtub with more toys on the floor. Lady Bug is partly visible behind a rubber duck. A blow-up of that section of the picture is on the next page with the Lady Bug peeking out. On other pages Lady Bug is found in a toy box, on the stairs, outside of a dollhouse, hiding behind a bee, and in a toy car. A blow-up of the hidden Lady-Bug follows the initial picture. Little children will have difficulty finding the bug at first but will enjoy looking at and naming the many objects commonly found in his or her world. Searching through all these shapes becomes a reading readiness tool. This is a fun activity. Reviewer: Carlee Hallman

Children's Literature - Carlee Hallman

PreS—In this seek-and-find picture book, a cheerful ladybug hides in a series of places familiar to young children: a bathtub full of toys, a playroom, a cluttered staircase. Energetic rhyming verses introduce each scene and invite preschoolers to find the beetle. The following page shows a close-up of where it is hiding. The book makes excellent use of white backgrounds to direct attention and provide breathing space. Ljungkvist's digital illustrations are colorful and interesting, but not too busy. They promote comfort and confidence by repeating objects, such as a robot and blocks that spell out "ladybug" in different configurations.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD

School Library Journal

A ladybug that likes to hide drives the action in this cheery, rhyming romp. "Yoo-hoo, Ladybug! Where are you?" This lilting refrain beckons children to hunt for the little beetle amid teeming, digitally rendered household toyscapes. With each page turn, the answering "There you are…" appears opposite a scene strewn with brightly colored objects. Turn again, and the page reveals both a verse answer ("tucked in a box with Rabbit and Fox!") and a visual one, with the grinning ladybug now peeking out from within an enlarged, circular detail from the previous illustration. Ljungkvist includes enough animals, toys and recurring details--blocks that spell out the word "ladybug," a Russian matryoshka doll, a red Swedish Dala horse and many more--to invite plenty of scrutiny. The alternating triple pattern of text on color field, the "clue" picture and the neatly rhymed "answer" page combine for a well-ordered experience that will both entertain and instruct young children. Ljungkvist's pictures pay homage to Barbara Cooney's Chanticleer and the Fox, Leo Lionni's windup mouse and Pat Hutchins' Rosie. Fox's playful rhymes steer young preschoolers along on this very satisfying excursion. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews