The Very Clumsy Click Beetle - Hardcover

by Eric Carle (Author), Eric Carle (Illustrator)

From bestselling author and illustrator Eric Carle, the creator of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, comes another classic tale about one very clumsy click beetle. A perfect gift to share with the child or grandchild in your life.

When a little click beetle falls onto his back, he seeks the help of a wise old click beetle. "Look at me," says the more experienced click beetle, giving a loud CLICK and flipping onto its feet. But try as he might, the clumsy little click beetle just can't get the hang of it--or can he? In the tradition of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Carle creates a winning story of perseverance and pride in achievement complete with an ingenious fiber-optic microchip that truly gives voice to the valiant little beetle as it CLICKs its way through the colorful pages and somersaults into your heart.

Praise for The Very Clumsy Click Beetle

"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."--Library Journal

"At once stark and sophisticated, Carle's trademark collage art fills the pages of his latest Very volume."--Publishers Weekly

"Carle's trademark artwork, featuring large, colorful collages set against expansive white space, is--as always--a strong attribute."--Booklist

Front Jacket

HEAR the beetle CLICK as it flips through the pages of this book and learns how to land on its feet!

"Look at me!" calls the little click beetle as it clicks and flips through the air. But -- "How very clumsy of me!" it exclaims as it fails, over and over again, to land on its feet. "Keep on trying", urges the patient turtle. "Don't worry, you'll get there", says the slow-moving snail.

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 triumph.

Here, in colorful collage illustrations and an engaging story, distinguished artist Eric Carle offers readers a message of hope and encouragement. He says, "All young children, as they grow up, have to face a lot of daunting challenges. In this book I wanted to reassure them that practice and perseverance really do pay off".

Back Jacket

Eric Carle's books are beloved by children everywhere, not only for the striking beauty of the collage illustrations and the fun of the stories, but because children sense his real interest in their own deepest concerns. In this book he deals compassionately with their universal feelings of awkwardness as they go about learning new skills -- and encourages them to keep on trying until they succeed.

The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, like all of Eric Carle's Very special books, has an added sensory feature -- in this case, the audible "click" as the reader turns the page. This invites the small child not only to read the text and look at the pictures, but also to listen to the click beetle as it flips through the pages.

Author Biography

Eric Carle is acclaimed and beloved as the creator of brilliantly illustrated and innovatively designed picture books for very young children. His best-known work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has been translated into 70 languages and sold over 55 million copies. Carle illustrated more than seventy books, many best sellers, most of which he also wrote, and more than 170 million copies of his books have sold around the world. In 2003, Carle received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (now called the Children's Literature Legacy Award) for lifetime achievement in children's literature. In 2002, Eric and his wife, Barbara, cofounded The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (www.carlemuseum.org) in Amherst, Massachusetts, a 40,000-square-foot space dedicated to the celebration of picture books and picture book illustrations from around the world, underscoring the cultural, historical, and artistic significance of picture books and their art form. Eric Carle passed away in May 2021 at the age of 91. His work remains an important influence on artists and illustrators at work today. www.eric-carle.com