Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday 4.13.16 - Traveling Butterflies



Every Wednesday I join Alyson Beecher from kidlitfrenzy and other
kidlit bloggers to share wonderful nonfiction picture books.
The intention of today's blog is to give educational professionals
new nonfiction reading material and ideas to use 
with students to promote a love of reading nonfiction materials.

I see many grade levels studying monarch butterflies, especially here in Illinois where they are the official state insect!

Students often study the life cycle of a butterfly, taking time to learn about each stage.  Frequently, classrooms receive kits where students can watch a caterpillar go through the stages and then emerge (hopefully) into a butterfly before releasing it into the wild!  

We even have an outdoor classroom at our school where milkweed is grown - a plant that helps feed monarch butterflies.

However, it seems that while the life cycle is studied frequently, what happens to the monarch once it emerges, seems to be an area that is not read about as much.  Did you know that these butterflies make a great migration every year?  Often each generation coming and going from the same place up north to the same place down south in Mexico, and then back again.  

Product Details
Traveling Butterflies
by Susumu Shingu
published by Owlkids Books

In Susumu Shingu's book Traveling Butterflies, he uses simple text and illustrations to describe this great migration for young readers.  They will see the great distance butterflies go to reach their migration destination while seeing some of the things that happen along the way.

There is a brief note at the end giving a few more details about monarch butterflies.  I would have liked to see more detail in the end notes - additional sources, additional facts about migration, etc.

I think this book is a great addition to classrooms and libraries that have students studying the monarch butterfly.  This book would make a great read aloud for young students and can be easily read by older students who are looking for more information.

6 comments:

  1. Great minds think alike! I included this book in my post on picture books about butterflies for Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday too! It truly is a lovely book, and the whole concept of such a long migration for such a tiny creature fascinates me.

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  2. It is amazing that they travel so far, and I like seeing a picture book about that journey for young children. Thanks, Michele.

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  3. I'm intrigued. Thanks for sharing this book. Will keep an eye out.

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  4. And I just wrote a post on a book about the metamorphosis of houseflies. Must be spring!

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  5. Is it weird that butterflies creep me out? I do think they are interesting, but they are just such fluttery, unpredictable creatures! This text looks like a good one to introduce the life of a butterfly.

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