Who would ever think that a cockroach would be a lovable storybook character? Author Katie Speck did. She’s written two books about the adventures of Maybelle, a curious little cockroach, who gets into lots of trouble because of her love of food.
Maybelle is a lovely, plump cockroach who lives in Mr. and Mrs. Peabody’s house underneath their refrigerator. Myrtle and Herbert Peabody like everything “just so and absolutely, positively NO BUGS!” Maybelle’s friend, Henry the flea, reminds her to follow three important rules: When it’s light, stay out of sight; if you’re spied, better hide; and most important of all, never meet with human feet.
One day, when my granddaughter called to request a story, I asked if she’d like me to read Maybelle in the Soup. We were already familiar with Maybelle. We’d listened to the CD of Maybelle Goes to Tea on one of our long car rides and found it very entertaining. The twists and turns of Maybelle and Henry kept us laughing and curious about how they were going to get out of trouble. Neither of us wanted to hang up until we got to the end.
Speck has a great imagination, which she attributes to her grandmother, who made up funny stories about the cockroaches that infested her childhood home in New Orleans. Speck writes that pest control wasn’t very good in those days, so her grandmother dealt with the roach situation by naming them all “Maybelle.” She told her the stories from the cockroach’s perspective.
The story is whimsical, engaging and has a sophisticated humor that’s equally appealing to adults. It was fun to read aloud. The illustrations by Paul Ratz de Tagyos are adorable. Maybelle wears a big pink bow on her head. When Mr. and Mrs. Peabody have some close encounters with the cockroach and the flea, their facial expressions are hysterical.
I went to Speck’s website and discovered more whimsical humor—”deliciously yucky” recipes called “Bug Bites” that children will love. I was happy to learn that she’s working on a third book: Maybelle Goes to the Fair coming in 2011. I also discovered something else that endeared me to her books: Speck and her grandmother were very close. As her grandmother got older, she often told Speck she wished she had something to leave her. She did, says Speck. “She left me Maybelle and I’m passing her on.”
Thank you, Katie, for sharing the legacy your grandmother left you.
