This story is about a little cricket who thinks he is ugly because a frog tells him so. He goes to different bugs—a glowworm, a ladybug, a dragonfly—to share his woes about being ugly and plain. He has a reason to envy every other insect he meets. The glowworm will turn into a beautiful lightning bug, the ladybug is the color of laughter, and the dragonfly has jewels all over his body. He finally goes to see the Old One, who is a spider. The little cricket thinks that not even the Old One can understand his pain because she is beautiful too. The Old One helps the little cricket understand that being loved is what makes someone beautiful.
“Why, if I were to believe what everyone says about me, I would think myself quite, quite ugly. But I don’t believe everyone, you see. And I certainly don’t believe that grumpy old frog who lives at the edge of the pond. I believe you because you are my friend. You think I’m beautiful, and so I am.”
The big pictures in this book make it excellent to read aloud to groups of children. I love that the story is told with insects, insects that most children would not consider beautiful. Even though this book is written for young children, I think that every pre-adolescent girl should be asked to read it too!
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