The Grouchy Ladybug

Author: Eric Carle

First line: It was night and some fireflies danced around the moon.

Why you should read this book: A grouchy ladybug ignores kindness and offers snark and aggression over and over again, in lovely patterned prose that highlights the ridiculousness of belligerence and the need to temper anger with rationality. Carle's inimitable style provides wonderful detail in terms of texture and size, as the ladybug picks fights with larger and larger animals, and the pages themselves get larger and larger. In the end, of course, the grouchy ladybug bites off more than it can chew and learns a valuable lesson in courtesy and looking for trouble.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You were always the biggest kid on the playground.