Beetle and his friend Caterpillar enjoy picnics on their rock. In the evenings, while Beetle sleeps, Caterpillar gazes at the moon. Stop right here - yes this is a friendship between a beetle and a caterpillar. No problem with that except it's a caterpillar!! What will happen? Now read about Farfallina and Marcel.
Yes, the little caterpillar is going to change - he is going to make his cocoon. Remember the famous book The Very Hungry Caterpillar ...
Beetle does not know about metamorphosis. All he knows is his friend has disappeared. Your young reader now knows more than poor old Beetle - we can all see the cocoon is under the rock ledge but Beetle does not think to look down. He sees a glimpse of red in the forest and so he picks up the very heavy picnic basket and sets off to find his true friend. It is a beautiful moment when the pair of friends are reunited. These words are so important:
"Then I looked more closely. And I just knew. It was my friend! She had changed a little bit but it was still my friend all the same."
One of the truly special aspects of this book is the way Chris Naylor-Ballesteros allows the pictures to speak for themselves. There are four double page spreads with no text. His pencil illustrations in black and white with an accent of the red caterpillar and later red butterfly give a 'child like' quality to this book which would be perfect to read aloud to a preschool group.
I adored The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros so when I saw his name on the cover of Out of Nowhere I grabbed this book!
I would pair Out of Nowhere with these:
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