Sir Ladybug

Starred review from January 10, 2022
Tabor’s (Mel Fell) friend-forward graphic novel series opener is an ensemble comedy starring Sir Ladybug as the proverbial gentle knight who doesn’t like big fusses, despite being armored up and sword-toting. He’s joined by Pell, a pill bug and overenthusiastic herald; Sterling, a snail steed who is trusty, if slow, and revealed to possess a palatial shell interior; Caterpillar, a bug in distress who appears in a cold open; and Chickadee, who wants to eat Caterpillar because “It’s kind of what birds do, you know. Eat bugs.” Readers can probably guess that no one is going to get eaten, but they’ll be happy to come along for the ride with this crew, whose irreverent banter is chronicled in unassuming but expertly paced digital line art. The story’s themes of friendship and acceptance may be familiar, but leave it to Tabor to get there in a wholly original way: via a lemon layer cake so “life-changing” that it knocks the putative villain flat with deliciousness and even inspires a parody of William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow.” Ages 6–10. Agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House.

May 1, 2022
Sir Ladybug and the Queen Bee by Corey R. Tabor; illus. by the author Primary Balzer + Bray/HarperAlley/HarperCollins 72 pp. g 6/22 978-0-06-306909-1 $12.99 e-book ed. 978-0-06-306911-4 $7.99 A gentle but fiercely loyal ladybug knight is joined by his faithful herald (a roly-poly bug who gets a little nervous sometimes but loves to loudly tell anyone who'll listen how great his friends are) and his steed/squire (a snail with a surprisingly spacious shell and a love of adventure) in Geisel Award-winning (for Fox at Night) and Caldecott honoree (for Mel Fell, rev. 3/21) Tabor's first two installments of a graphic-novel series for the early-reader set. These small-scale quests are packed with referential jokes and friendly banter as the trio heeds the call of creatures facing trouble, including themselves. It takes teamwork and problem-solving, for example, to stop a hungry chickadee from eating them for dinner. Sometimes it's good deeds that save the day, but sometimes the only solution to a big problem is an exceptionally delicious lemon cake. And you never know when the tale might be briefly interrupted (chapters titled "Interlude") by, for example, a poem celebrating Sir Ladybug in the style of William Carlos Williams. The neat and precise illustrations reflect the warm, understatedly funny tone of the stories, with soft colors and simply but expressively drawn creatures. Tabor's celebration of friendship will have readers joining Pell the Roly-Poly Herald in loudly singing Sir Ladybug's praises. Laura Koenig

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