Somewhere Kafka is rolling over in his grave. This is the tale of a cockroach who inexplicably turns into a roach-sized boy. Potentially interesting premise, but here's the catch: all of the cockroaches in this story are already basically humans in cockroach bodies. They have deep feelings and feel things deeply (I believe it's called anthropomorphizing).

So when the family whose house the cockroaches inhabit decides they don't want to live with cockroaches anymore (justifiably, as the bugs make the kid sick and ROACHES ARE GROSS) the roach-turned-boy, our titular Clarence, stands up for his family and tries to convince the humans not to wipe out an entire colony of living, loving, sweet-tempered creatures. Forgive me if I don't weep at the possibility of cockroach murder.

This book is one of two things: a ridiculously far-fetched parable about how we should all just get along, or the disguised manifesto of a vegan and/or Buddhist who believes no living thing should ever be intentionally killed.

There may very well be plenty of kids who will enjoy this, but I found it irritating, predictable, and didactic. ( )

A reversal of Kafka's Metamorphosis: in this case, a cockroach becomes a very small boy who proceeds to save his clan from the exterminator. Perhaps the idea of humans and cockroaches living in harmony stretches credulity, but Loizeaux imbues it with gentle wisdom. ( )