You would be surprised, but that is actually more than I needed to know about ladybugs.

Rebecca's preschool class in Mountain View were the Marienkaefer/Ladybugs, so today we picked up a German book for her all about ladybugs, for ages 3+. We have books from the same series about airports and preschool, and they are really cute, describing the world around us in a way that is engaging for children but doesn't talk down to them.

When we sat down to read it, I ran into this, right there on page five:

Yep, innocently hidden behind a drawing of a flower is a little picture of a pair of ladybugs going at it. Well thanks, children's book illustrator, but that is a little bit too much information. Good thing your friend children's book author was kind enough to print the explanation on the inside of the flap. It says something like, "Ladybugs' backs are really slippery, so the male has to hold onto the female's back really well to copulate."

Exceeeellent.

For those of you have never seen it, here is another great link to a 1970's European book.