My son recently brought home another book from the library at school. I was a bit surprised when I saw that it wasn't a Clifford book. What he chose this time is titled Bubba and Trixie, written by Lisa Campbell Ernst. The book is published by Simon & Schuster and the ISBN is 0-689-81357-0.
The cover of the book looks exactly like it does on Epinions, with a caterpillar above the title and a ladybug below it. This particular book is hardback and the price listed inside the front cover is $16. Bubba and Trixie is recommended for readers ages 4-8.
The story begins with Bubba hanging on a parsley leaf in the garden. He's a 'fraidy cat, a nervous Nelly, a tremble-toes. Poor Bubba was so afraid of anything and everything, including his own shadow, that he'd never set even one of his 16 feet off the parsley plant where he was born. Bubba was scared of literally every little thing including Trixie when he saw her the first time. The two become friends.
We find out that Trixie can't fly due to a crimped wing. But her determination and spunk for life hasn't stopped her from enjoying the finer things. After a short talk with Bubba, Trixie decides to show Bubba what the world looks like. Bubba naturally objects and Trixie tells him, "...it won't be scarey with me." She pushes him to the edge of the leaf, overlooking a huge bed of Corsican mint, grabs his hand and tells him to close his eyes and JUMP!
They safely land in the mint and Bubba is overwhelmed with the sights and smells of this place. Trixie tells Bubba about all the flowers and plants, insects and beasts. She warns Bubba about watching out for birds, plants with stickers and the hiding spots of spiders. Now that all the basics are out of the way and the rules have been set, Trixie decides it's time to have some fun!
The rest of the story is a smooth, enjoyable read about all the fun things small bugs can do. These good times take place over several days and range from playing games with roly-pollies, joking with the grasshoppers and sliding down iris-leaf water slides on rainy days. As we were reading this story my children were absolutely in awe at the thought that bugs would actually be "playing".
As the summer unfolded the two friends climb to the top of a sunflower in the garden. They dance and make wishes on the stars. Trixie's wish was always the same, "I wish I could touch the stars." Bubba wishes that everything would stay exactly as it is right now, forever. A grasshopper sitting nearby chuckles and tells Bubba that autumn is near and that life is going to change very much. Especially for Bubba.
Bubba isn't sure what that means. Trixie explains to him that during the winter he will change in a butterfly...WEELLLL, Bubba's not going to have any of that! He wants to remain the same. We find out that the reason Bubba doesn't want to change is because he thinks Trixie and him won't be friends anymore. In a grand scheme of a plan he decides to build a house around himself soooo tight that he could not possibly change. Trixie reminds him that they will always be friends, but Bubba wants to hear nothing of it.
We read how Bubba climbs up the parsley plant and spins a button of silk to attach himself to. He giggles that he's never built a house before but somehow he just knows what to do. Meanwhile Trixie is looking on from the ground, all the time knowing exactly what was happening. They make arrangements to meet again in the spring and they both settle in.
When Trixie wakes in the spring she goes up the plant to find Bubba. He pokes only his head out very slowly and then squeezes the rest of his body out. From what he can see, he's still the same. But Trixie sees something differently.
I'll stop the story here, so as not to spoil it. For the adults reading this, well, you obviously know what happened to Bubba. But there's another little bit to the story that you'll find out when you read it.
There are many aspects of this book that I absolutely love. We deal with feelings and emotions about not liking who we are, we listen to friends make promises and they actually keep them, we experience a little bit of science and we see things from another point of view. Lisa Campbell Ernst did an excellent job with this story. The pictures are very colorful and rendered in pastel, ink and pencil. The text is Goudy Old Style and large enough to read aloud easily.
My most favorite part of the entire book is the very last page. It's a picture of the garden with an overlay titled A Few Facts About Ladybugs and Caterpillars. This is a couple paragraphs that give actual facts of ladybugs and caterpillars.
If you're looking for a feel good book about emotions and liking who you are this is a great one to pick up! If you have a child that doesn't care much for science, this also works for that...it's so much fun to read about that you don't even know you're learning about life cycles and other science facts.
I personally like this book so much I'm hoping it's available through Scholastic so I can purchase a copy for our home. My kids love to sit down and listen to the story and I enjoy reading it!
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