Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)"One day Miss Dana brought a surprise to school-three striped caterpillars and a flowerpot. A green plant called milkweed was growing in the flowerpot." So begins this informative and charming tale about a classroom full of curious children and three caterpillars that 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, if they could, thus allowing the author to weave tidbits of information into the story seamlessly.
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 from 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."
Also included is an author's note which gives readers more information about Monarchs as well as an internet resource where they may go for more information. The endpapers at the book's beginning show illustrations of nine different caterpillars. Turning to the back of the book, readers are treated to colorful, detailed illustrations of the butterflies that they become.
The illustrations are watercolors that have been cut and then layered, thus creating lively, realistic three-dimensional scenes.
We took the book into a second grade classroom to read aloud. The children enjoyed it immensely and asked many thoughtful questions about caterpillars and butterflies. They were especially taken with the illustrations, poring over each page and pointing out details to each other.
A definite "must-have" for your classroom.
(...)
Click Here to see more reviews about: Becoming Butterflies
0 comments:
Post a Comment