Melanie Gerth

This is a counting book for little kids. It counts down from 10 to 1 as ladybugs disappear in various ways which tend to involve meeting predators. A poem counts down and rhymes the numbers, predator names, and various mishaps that the lady bugs meet. On the last page, they all appear back on the page with no explanation, and it says they are "Home". I always took this as a metaphor for the afterlife, like now all the ladybugs are dead, dead, dead, but I think it is just a coincidence of a kids book that reads as creepy for adults.

This is good for having a tactile feature that is also durable. The lady bugs, which you can see peeking through on the cover image, are hefty plastic lady bugs which are glued to the pages throughout the book. Early pages have holes cut, so the lady bugs peek through, and then as they disappear, eventually there is just the last little lady bug glued to the page. The bugs do not fall off. Each page is actually two stiff sheets (it's a board book) glued together, and each lady bug has a wide piece of plastic as a base which is sandwiched between the pages. Toddlers can go nuts trying to scrape the lady bugs off, and they will not be able to.… (more)

Gerth, M., & Hulika-Beith, L. (2015). Ten little ladybugs. Ashland, OH: Piggy Toes Press.
This book is most appropriate for toddlers. The story starts with ten ladybugs who are sitting on a vine. As the story progresses different animals come along and there is a countdown from ten to see how many ladybugs are still on the page. Each ladybug is physically raised from the page so children can feel and easily see the ladybugs due to the vibrant paintings. At the end of the story all the ladybugs are gone, however they eventually all come back together with their new animal friends.… (more)