Butterflies

Children's Literature

The “Backyard Animals” series includes nine titles about animals that can be found in cities and town around the country. Butterflies, coyotes, deer, opossums, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, sparrows and squirrels are featured in the series. Each animal is introduced with a large photo and information about where they live and a few characteristics that make them special. A brief history provides information about the development of the species worldwide. A large photograph of the animal provides information about their specific body parts and how they help it survive in nature. The animal’s life cycle and what it eats are illustrated with photographs. Details about where humans are most likely to interact with the featured animal and myths from various cultures make the information more relevant and interesting to young readers. Butterflies are insects. Their life cycle begins as an egg. They hatch to become caterpillars and, after a stay in a chrysalis, become butterflies. There are 18,500 species of known butterflies. Butterflies may have evolved from moths that lived 65 to 135 million years ago, the time of the first flowering plants. Some butterflies migrate many hundreds of miles to find warmer weather. The monarch butterfly travels up to 2,000 miles from Canada or the northern United States to warmer weather in Mexico or California. The fastest butterflies can fly 30 miles an hour. Large photographs and sidebars with factoids make this a nice way to learn about common animals children might see in their neighborhood. Reviewer: Kristin Harris