Reviews: (by author)

David, Lawrence. Illustrated by Delphine Durand. Beetle Boy. Doubleday (New York), 1999. 29 pages. $15.95 hardcover. ISBN 0385325495.

Who would have thought that Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis could be turned into a book for kids? Well, Lawrence David did, and I think he was absolutely right. Once I got over the shock of that first sentence ("Gregory Sampson woke one morning to discover that he had become a giant beetle."), I realized that this was a perfect match. A number of details, however, have been changed, notably the substitution of a happy ending in which the child turns back from bug to human being. Still, this is a book for anybody who has ever woken up, looked around, and thought that the best course of action would be to pull the covers back over his head.

The simple plot takes place over the course of a single day, during which Gregory does very ordinary things. He has breakfast with his family, gets ready for school, multiplies three by two in math class (well, he cheated on that one - he counted on his legs), plays soccer. Ordinary stuff, done the hard way because he's a bug. Trying to figure out how to live a human life in his beetle body, Gregory is a beautiful, funny, touching representative for children. He's vulnerable, a misfit, both frightened and frightening. Worst of all, he's not sure if he's going to stay this way

The most upsetting feature of the book - upsetting because it is probably true - is that none of the adults around Gregory notice that he has changed. His parents, teachers, the bus driver, the lunch lady, none of them notice that Gregory has become a beetle, despite the fact that Gregory repeatedly tells them so. But Gregory does not spend the book isolated, which would perhaps be too grim for child readers. Gregory's best friend notices, with no more than a single glance, that Gregory is different, and that same friend believes, with no more proof than Gregory's word, that Gregory just woke up this way. The two of them spend most of the day together, and it is not until Gregory returns home, where his "bugness" is still not noticed, that he becomes really upset. At home, Gregory crawls up onto the ceiling and hangs there crying until his parents come to get him for dinner. When they see him in this new setting, the mother and father finally notice what's wrong with Gregory, and their promise to love him anyway proves to be the solution. Gregory wakes up the next morning a human boy again.

A sweet and funny book, Beetle Boy is a psychologically rich book about fear, family relationships, peer relationships, masquerades, and transformations. And, oh yes, something your child might like. Bugs.

Recommended reading level: Age 6-10

Reviewed by Jamie Madden

David, Lawrence. Ill. Clement Oubrerie. The Good Little Girl. Doubleday, NY, 1998. 30 pages. $15.95 hardcover. ISBN 0385326149.

This is a book about how a child should deal with working parents. If you are a working parent, it is more frightening than any novel Stephen King ever wrote. That doesn't mean your child shouldn't read it, but that you may have to wince once or twice when you recognize yourself.

Good little girl Miranda doesn't get enough attention from her loving, but busy, parents. Her favorite time of the week is Saturday Family Waffle Breakfast. And then, one awful day, she is served eggs and bacon instead of waffles, and she feels just like she did "last week at recess when Rhonda Tashiagloo cut in front of her at the water fountain." The good little girl has always accepted her parents' excuses and promises about tomorrow. But this time the good little girl doesn't. She turns angry, and green, and red-eyed. She becomes Lucretia, the nasty monster who knows how to get what she wants.

At first it works pretty well. Miranda watches from behind Lucretia's eyes (the wonderful pictures are drawn from this same perspective) while Lucretia forces Miranda's parents to do what Miranda wants - starting with a waffle breakfast. Gradually, however, Lucretia starts to be too demanding, refusing to let Miranda back out, making Miranda's father "put on a dress and dance the Watusi" while Miranda's mother cleans out the chimney with her tongue. At last, Miranda gets fed up with Lucretia and transforms again.

Her parents are delighted to have her back. In fact, they're so happy that they hug and kiss her and then promptly try to go back to ignoring her. This is when Miranda realizes that a little bit of Lucretia is necessary. She puts her foot down, but also considers the needs of her parents. In the end, parents and child negotiate an agreement, in which they will read her a storybook, not now, and not tomorrow, but in an hour.

This is a terrific book about a little girl who learns to manage her anger in the true sense. Anger and selfishness, she learns, are forces that are necessary if we are to insist on fair treatment. But they can become overwhelming. They are good servants, but poor masters.

Recommended reading level: Age 6-9

Reviewed by Jamie Madden

Back to Reviews D-F