This past month we’ve had so much fun learning about the butterfly life cycle!
We’ve raised and observed different types of butterflies, deconstructed a beloved classic, and read our way through dozens of butterfly books.
Here are some of our favorites:
Featured above:
Are You a Butterfly?
prompts the reader to imagine themselves as a butterfly as it transforms from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly.
A Butterfly Is Patient
with stunning watercolor illustrations and fascinating scientific tidbits.
Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian
(above) presents a historical perspective from the Middle Ages, telling the true story of a young girl who carefully observed and documented the butterfly life cycle, thereby disproving the commonly held belief that insects were evil, created from mud in a process called spontaneous generation. What a fantastic female role model for little scientists!
From Caterpillar to Butterfly
presents a story that any kid who raises butterflies at school or home can relate to: the joy at watching metamorphosis unfold firsthand in a classroom setting.
Nic Bishop: Butterflies and Moths
featuring fantastic, up-close photographs of a number of different butterfly and moth species as they undergo metamorphosis.
(We also love his Scholastic Reader Level 2: Butterflies
book (above) featuring many of the same photographs but written for younger readers!)
The Life Cycles of Butterflies: From Egg to Maturity, a Visual Guide to 23 Common Garden Butterflies
(above) is the ULTIMATE butterfly reference book full of detailed information, stunning photos, and useful factoids about the life stages of 23 frequently seen butterflies. This book provided to be the most valuable resource in our comparison of different eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises, and butterflies. Check it out!
Other butterfly life cycle books and guides that we enjoyed include:
– Butterflies and Moths (Golden Guide)
– Waiting for Wings
– Monarch Butterfly of Aster Way – a Smithsonian’s Backyard Book
– National Geographic Readers: Great Migrations Butterflies
– Butterfly & Moth (Eyewitness Books)
– Butterfly Story
– Creepy, Crawly Caterpillars
– Butterflies in the Garden
– A Butterfly’s Life (Science Slam: Animal Diaries: Life Cycles)
– Miss Hallberg’s Butterfly Garden
Wow, did we read a lot of books this month. Please check them out!
