When Stephen spots a beetle he takes off his shoe and raises his arm, ready to strike… but then he has second thoughts. He lays his head down on the ground and the beetle walks right up to him. At the last moment the beetle turns aside and each can go on with the day, having avoided the worst.
In this very simple story Jorge Luján presents the kind of deep moral questions that can occur even in the smallest child's day. Chiara Carrer's very original etched and painted illustrations perfectly complement the story, and are in and of themselves beautiful works of art.
This simple yet powerful life-or-death drama between the boy and the beetle is vividly captured in Carrer’s striking, highly original acrylic, ink pencil, oil pastel and collage illustrations. Using naive outlines, Expressionistic color washes, open spaces and constantly changing perspectives, she creates tension between the aggressive boy and the passive beetle.