This informative and charming tale about a classroom full of curious children and three caterpillars. The caterpillars become, in time, magnificent Monarch butterflies.
As the children watch the metamorphosis, they draw pictures and comment on the process. They also ask the questions readers would like to ask, thus allowing the author to seamlessly weave tidbits of information into the story .
We learn, for example, that when the caterpillar's skin splits for the fifth time, it is ready to become a chrysalis.
At story's end, the butterflies, after drying their wings, are set free at an open window. The children watch them go with a mixture of sadness and hope. Thankfully, the author does not end the classroom adventure there (as she might have). Rather, Miss Dana shows the children where Mexico is on a map and tells them the butterflies will eventually go there before the onset of winter. The students then write a letter to schoolchildren at a school in Chincua, Mexico, asking them to "Please take good care of our butterflies." Winter arrives and so does a letter from the students in Chincua, along with a picture of a tree laden with Monarch butterflies. "All of us looked and looked," says the narrator, "wondering which were the three butterflies we hatched in our classroom and set free to fly so far away."

This book is an informative book on the metamorphosis of a butterfly. I think this book would be a great read aloud. I think this book would make children very curious to learn about the process of catepillars turning into butterflies.

This is a great book to read to 1-3 graders. The book discusses monarch butterflies and the process of caterpillars changing to butterflies. It discusses a class that has watched their caterpillars turn to butterflies then they send them to Mexico. It has watercolor illustrations and is a great book to read if one is teaching a topic like this.

Very good! Explains in excellent detail the life cycle of a monarch butterfly. Even better: it does so in the form of a fictional classroom's story of carefully raising caterpillars to butterflies, so it never gets boring like alot of other educational books geared toward young readers. ( )

What a lovely book this is!! Becoming Butterflies is the story of what happens when Ms. Dana brings in a special milkweed plant and three caterpillars to her classroom. Here we are treated to a story that seamlessly weaves together the narrative (from a students perspective), which gives us a child's eye view of the process and the many activities the kids did as a class as the caterpillars grew and changed and scientific facts...it'd done so well that kids will probably miss the "lesson," learning all about these butterflies right along with the kids in Ms. Dana's class.

What I was particularly enjoyed was that the author managed to get the information in there (all of it) without skipping over the FIVE times the caterpillars split our of the skin before they are ready to become a chrysalis. Even after the butterflies break out of their chrysalis, dry their wings, and are released outdoors to migrate to Mexico with much sadness on the students part, the author takes it one step further. She has the teacher tell them that the butterflies are going to Mexico, showing them on a map and the kids then write letters to kids in a school in Mexico who write back and send Ms. Dana's students a lovely photo of a tree FILLEED with butterflies that have migrated there, giving the kids a sense of closure on the whole process. The book really captures that sense of wonder and joy in watching the metamorphosis from start to finish. This is an excellent book fro preschool age kids up to about grade 3, older kids will probably find it too simple, but for younger readers it's an excellent classroom or homeschooling resource! I give it 5 stars and recommend it highly!! ( )