Children's Fiction Values & Virtues
Stephen and the Beetle
- Publisher
- Groundwood Books Ltd
- Initial publish date
- Aug 2012
- Category
- Values & Virtues, Insects, Spiders, etc.
- Recommended Age
- 2 to 5
- Recommended Grade
- p to k
- Recommended Reading age
- 2 to 5
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9781554981922
- Publish Date
- Aug 2012
- List Price
- $18.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9781554983155
- Publish Date
- Jul 2012
- List Price
- $16.95
Classroom Resources
Where to buy it
Description
When Stephen spots a beetle he takes off his shoe and raises his arm, ready to strike… but then he has second thoughts. He lays his head down on the ground and the beetle walks right up to him. At the last moment the beetle turns aside and each can go on with the day, having avoided the worst.
In this very simple story Jorge Luján presents the kind of deep moral questions that can occur even in the smallest child's day. Chiara Carrer's very original etched and painted illustrations perfectly complement the story, and are in and of themselves beautiful works of art.
About the authors
Jorge Luján is an author, poet and musician who has published forty-four books and recorded eight CDs. With many of the world’s greatest illustrators, he has created an outstanding body of work — translated into 15 languages — including Stephen and the Beetle, illustrated by Chiara Carrer; Doggy Slippers and Numeralia, illustrated by Isol; Colors! ¡Colores!, illustrated by Piet Grobler; Moví la mano / I Moved My Hand, illustrated by Mandana Sadat; and Brunhilda and the Ring, illustrated by Linda Wolfsgruber. Jorge has just published his first novel, Salando el río con una cucharita (Salting the River with a Teaspoon). Among other distinctions, he has won the Premio de Poesía para Niños de ALIJA (IBBY Argentina) and has been nominated four times for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. See more of his work on Facebook (Jorge Luján. Poesía y Música), on the Jorge Luján YouTube channel, on his Bandcamp page, Soundcloud and jorgelujan.net.
Chiara Carrer is one of Italy's best-known children's book illustrators. She has been creating children's books for more than twenty years, with more than one hundred titles to her credit. Chiara has won many major awards, including the UNICEF Prize, the Austrian Kinder und Jugendbuch-Illustrationspreis, the BolognaRagazzi New Horizons Award (Special Mention) and the Golden Apple at the Biennial of Illustration, Bratislava. She also teaches art and has exhibited her work in Europe, Japan and Brazil. She lives in Rome.
Editorial Reviews
This simple yet powerful life-or-death drama between the boy and the beetle is vividly captured in Carrer’s striking, highly original acrylic, ink pencil, oil pastel and collage illustrations. Using naive outlines, Expressionistic color washes, open spaces and constantly changing perspectives, she creates tension between the aggressive boy and the passive beetle.
Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
