A Butterfly Is Patient (edition 2011)

Review: Informational book about butterflies, beautiful illustrations!
Source: Pierce College Library
Age: 3-6 ( )

Butterfly lovers rejoice! Diana Jutts Aston and Sylvia Long - the author/illustrator team responsible for An Egg Is Quiet and A Seed Is Sleepy - turn their attention to our pieridine friends in this, their third natural history picture-book, and the result is a decided triumph! Like the previous two titles, A Butterfly Is Patient is meant to explore the world of a particular category of things (or creatures) - in this case: butterflies. Using a dual narrative in which a general, and rather poetic statement - "A butterfly is patient" / "A butterfly is helpful" - in larger print is paired on each two-page spread with a more detailed, factual paragraph in standard-sized font, the text is clearly intended to engage readers at a number of different levels.

Paired with Sylvia Long's gorgeous watercolor artwork, the end result is a lovely book that is sure to appeal to nature-lovers young and old! The decorative first and last pages (conveniently not the endpapers, which might be covered up by stickers in library copies) are given over to a wealth of caterpillars and butterflies, and the interior artwork is lushly colorful and detailed. With such an engaging textual format, and such beautiful illustrations, Aston and Long seem determined to prove (yet again) that educational doesn't have to mean boring or dry! ( )

I think my favorite thing about this book were the illustrations and the fact that each butterfly was labeled. ( )

This book is perfect for students interested in insects, particularly butterflies. This book goes into details about a variety of butterflies from the blue swallowtails and brilliant orange monarchs to the worlds tiniest butterfly (Western Pygmy Blue) and the largest (Queen Alexandra's Birdwing).

Summary: This book is the introduction from the largest butterflies to the smallest. Which are the Western Pygmy Blue to the Queen Alexandra's Birdwing as well as several different variety of butterflies.

Personal reaction: I liked it because it gave names and showed pictures of the beautiful colorful butterflies.

Classroom ideas: This is a very good educational book because many children do not know all the different types of colors, names, and sizes of butterflies there is in the world.