Ladybug on the Move

This cleverly engineered, invitingly illustrated volume takes the idea of a story line literally, striking an ideal balance between the abstract and the concrete aspects of reading. Its heroine, a ladybug in search of a resting place, is reproduced on a separate, diecut bit of sturdy cardstock, so that when the text and pictures indicate new segments of the ladybug's journey (from under a stone and into a flower pot; across the garden shed and toward a purring cat, etc.), the reader can simulate the action. The type is set in curving lines, tracing the character's flight on each page and steering the reader toward a diecut opening through which the cardstock ladybug enters the next spread. This simple but surprising way of advancing the plot receives a suitably dramatic backdrop with Fowler's luxuriant full-spread art, which agreeably and without excess sentiment anthropomorphizes Ladybug along with beetle, slug and other members of the insect kingdom. A pattern for making replacement ladybugs is prudently included. Ages 2-6. BOMC main selection. (Apr.)