At one point in the new book A Butterfly Is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long, the author writes, “A butterfly is spectacular!” As you read it you immediately want to echo, “This book is spectacular, too!”
The team of Aston and Long have already written and illustrated two award-winning books, An Egg is Quiet and A Seed is Sleepy. This new addition is even better, if that is possible. How do you top perfection? They found a way.
Start with the front endpapers, a collection of vibrant caterpillars with names like “Moonlight Jewel” and “Hieroglyphic Flat.” Skip to the back endpapers and you will find equally vibrant illustrations of the butterflies that come from those caterpillars. You can spend hours studying the endpapers alone.
Aston packs some hard science into the text, using words such as pollination, camouflage, predator, and migration. She has obviously done her research. It is so lyrically written, however, that learning is beautiful. Each and every page is a delight.
Looking for a gift book? As well as being a high quality, enjoyable, and informative picture book for children, the glorious art and design of A Butterfly Is Patient make it a potential coffee table art book for adults (albeit a thin one). Yes, it is that good. This book is a must for libraries, for children interested in science, and anyone interested in nature.
Don’t be as patient as a butterfly, go check out a copy for yourself today! I’d love to hear what you think of it.
See another review by Amanda at A Patchwork of Books
Related butterfly science activities at Growing with Science
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 18, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0811864790
ISBN-13: 978-0811864794
Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.
This week’s post is at Books Together.
This book was provided for review purposes.