Lara the Yellow Ladybird

A yellow bug in a world of red, Lara the Ladybird just wants to fit in.

Lara the Yellow Ladybird on YouTube

Lara the ladybird was a special bug.

Unlike all her friends, she had bright yellow wings.

Everyone loved her yellow wings.

Each morning, Bibi Butterfly said hello.

And Manto Mantis always waved.

Even Sesa, the sulky spider, was happy to see her.

At school, she played with lots of friends.

But Lara wanted to be like the other ladybirds.

“I wish I had red wings like you, Mama,” she cried.

So one day, to cheer her up, Lara’s mother painted her wings bright red.

The next morning, nobody greeted Lara on her way to school.

And when she got there,

none of her friends said hello.

Lara sat all alone. No one noticed her new red wings.

Until Miss Miya spotted her and said:

“You’ve painted your lovely yellow wings!”

Lara’s classmates were shocked.

“Your wings are special!”

“So unique!”

“So rare!”

“Lara,” Miss Miya said, “your yellow wings are what make you you.

Like Sipho’s spot … and Sally’s legs.”

Back home, Lara took a long bath and scrubbed until her golden wings gleamed.

“I’ll never paint my wings again!”

she thought. Except, maybe once or twice …

To try a bit of purple …

or something nice.

But not for ever and just for fun.

This work is a derivative used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence of:

Lara the Yellow Ladybird Available at http://bookdash.org/yellow-ladybird-martha-evans-catherine-holtzhausen-nadene-kriel/

Illustrated by Catherine Holtzhausen
Written by Martha Evans
Designed by Nadene Kriel
with the help of the Book Dash participants in Cape Town on 5 March 2016.