Lara the Yellow Ladybird

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. Lara the Yellow Ladybird Created by Martha Evans, Catherine Holtzhausen, Nadene Kriel This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This means you are free to share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and adapt it (remix, transform, and build upon the material) for any purpose, even commercially, as long as you give appropriate credit, with a link to your source, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. Book Dash Book Dash ebooks Lara the Yellow Ladybird Lara the Yellow Ladybird