Monarch Butterflies: Explore the Life Journey of One of the Winged Wonders of the World

by Ann Hobbie, Olga Baumert (Illustrator)

Overview

Monarchs are a favorite and familiar North American butterfly, and their incredible annual migration has captured the popular imagination for generations. As populations of monarchs decline dramatically due to habitat loss and climate change, interest in and enthusiasm for protecting these beloved pollinators has skyrocketed. With easy-to-read text and colorful, engaging illustrations, Monarch Butterflies presents young readers with rich, detailed information about the monarchs’ life cycle, anatomy, and the wonders of their signature migration, as well as how to raise monarchs at home and the cultural significance of monarchs in Day of the Dead celebrations. As the book considers how human behavior has harmed monarchs, it offers substantive ways kids can help make a positive difference. Children will learn how to turn lawns into native plant gardens, become involved in citizen science efforts such as tagging migrating monarchs and participating in population counts, and support organizations that work to conserve butterflies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635862898
Publisher:	Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	218,078
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Ann Hobbie is the chair of the board of directors at the Monarch Joint Venture, a national partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses, and academic programs working together to conserve the monarch butterfly migration. She has more than 20 years of experience teaching children, training teachers, and writing curriculum related to monarchs, schoolyard ecology, and schoolyard gardening. Hobbie holds an MA in curriculum and instruction. In addition to working with children and teachers, she specialized in education policy for a nonprofit helping the public understand and support public education in Minnesota. She lives in St. Paul.

Editorial Reviews

“An important wake-up call to help stem the decline of these monarchs of the skies.” — Kirkus

“The monarch butterfly takes center stage in​ this text for grade-schoolers, which offers​ age-appropriate insights into the species’​ life cycle, habitat, and extraordinary migration... an admirable addition to any gradeschooler’s lepidoptery library."​ — Science Magazine (AAAS) 

“As the wings of the butterflies themselves… Bound to be read over and over, just as children's books should be, Hobbie's excellent creation is a genuine treasure.” — Wendy Williams, author of The Language of Butterflies
 
“While all organisms on earth have wonderful and unique life journeys, that of monarch butterflies may be one of the most amazing. Here, the story of this journey is told in easy to understand, but still accurate, words and pictures.” — Karen Oberhauser, UW-Madison Arboretum Director
 
"This book is perfect for aspiring biologists and nature lovers. It beautifully illustrates the complex story of the natural world through the lens of the monarch butterfly and its amazing migration." — Wendy Caldwell, Executive Director of Monarch Joint Venture
 
“Soaring color and an elegant flow of information fly high together in Hobbie’s robustly beautiful book. Baumert’s vibrant natural palette is rich in botanical detail, lush in evocative background landscape, factual yet charming in biological renderings.  Readers will certainly conclude that the world is much more colorful with monarchs in it, just the inspiration needed for budding environmental stewards.” — Claudia McGehee, author and illustrator of North Woods Girl and Begin with a Bee

From the Publisher

04/01/2021

Gr 1–5—Nonfiction units are an important part of the elementary school curriculum, and butterflies are certainly in the top five perennial subjects. Hobbie's title ticks off all the boxes. The text is beautifully illustrated and packed with fascinating facts. A wide variety of topics is detailed. For example, caterpillars have terrible eyesight, but butterflies have excellent vision. Readers will be amazed to learn, "The caterpillar will grow to 2,000 times its original size!" Close-up diagrams of the caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly introduce new words such as spiracles, hemolymph, and frass (caterpillar poop). Migration, lifespan, food, and predators are also explained. A final section discusses how children can help monarchs and grow their own, cautioning against ordering kits online. Colorful pictures of insects, wildlife, milkweed varieties, and other alluring blooms illuminate the text. A table of contents, an index, a glossary, labeled diagrams, maps, sidebars, and further resources are included. VERDICT This informative and striking butterfly book is a worthy addition to all collections.—Barbara Auerbach, Cairo P.L., NY

School Library Journal

2021-01-27
Uniting the three countries of North America is the majestic, jewellike monarch butterfly.

This engaging book highlights the fascinating life cycle of these striking insects and follows the nearly 3,000-mile kaleidoscopic journey millions of monarchs make from Canada and the United States to central Mexico. The flow of information is smooth and facilitates intuitive learning in an attention-grabbing format. Interspersed with succinct and easily digestible miniparagraphs are magnified inserts and unifying factoids in orange and yellow bubbles. The full-page diagrams of the caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly are inviting and descriptive. Hobbie’s brief overview of the milkweed ecosystem and the monarch predators that are part of it is perfect for initiating classroom discussion. She discusses how the arriving butterflies coincide with Mexico’s Day of the Dead and are considered “a symbol of the spirits of the dead coming back to visit.” Baumert’s precise and exquisite illustrations flawlessly support and enhance the text. Her vibrant color palette slowly evolves from the bright greens of spring and monarch caterpillars to the oranges of fall and migrating butterflies. The final section describes the dangers threatening the monarchs’ survival, including loss of habitat, and provides suggested projects for citizen scientists. Also included are advocacy opportunities, enrichment activities, a glossary, and websites. Unfortunately, in an apparent oversight, Hobbie relocates Mexico to Central America in the backmatter. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)

An important wake-up call to help stem the decline of these monarchs of the skies. (Informational picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews