Butterflies and Moths by Nic Bishop

Book Jacket

Butterflies shimmer as they glide through the air.  Moths are more secretive, flying at night.  But both grow up in an amazing way, transforming from wriggly caterpillars into beautiful winged insects.  See them up close in Nic Bishop's photographs!

Review

I'm going to try something new--a live blog reading!  Here are my thoughts as I read Butterflies and Moths:

Butterflies belong in fairy tales, but they're real!  Hahaha, okay, cheese.

When I visited my friend in Mongolia, she told me she was afraid of butterflies.  I couldn't believe it, because well, Bishop says they belong in fairy tales and I kind of agree.  Turns out she was afraid of moths and didn't know the difference.  That made more sense, but I still kind of scoffed.  NO.  SHE WAS RIGHT.  Apparently there are some moths that feed on the tears of sleeping animals and others that drink blood!!  That is the scariest thing I've ever read.

Blergh.  Caterpillars are mostly gross.  I used to catch them and put them in buckets, now I am squeamish.  Growing up isn't all fun. 

Haha!  Caterpillars look so hilarious--OH MY GOSH it looks like a snake!  That is awesome!  Camoflauge defense for the win.

Monarchs are the mean girls of butterflies.  Even their caterpillars are pretty, but if you eat one, their poison will make you sick!  Like I said, they are mean girls.  Ooo, but I love the idea of caterpillars using ants as their bodyguards.  There's a story in there somewhere.

Wow!  Butterfly wings up close are phenomenal!  I am learning things!

It never stops being amazing and weird that caterpillars turn into butterflies.  Ridiculous.

Eurrrgh!  A praying mantis eating a butterfly!  I didn't want to see that.

Hahaha!  So the butterflies mating picture is kind of beautiful (and not sketchy, btw), but the description!  "{A male butterfly} may search along rivers and sunny trails, swooping on anything that looks like a female.  It might just be a falling leaf, or even a bumblebee.  It doesn't take much to confuse the male." 

Nic Bishop seems like an awesome guy.  His photographs are phenomenal, and his dedication (waiting years to take that creepy snake-caterpillar picture!) is mind-blowing.  Pretty cool book. 

Four out of five transformations.

Release Date: March 2009
Reading Level: Ages 4+
Where In Dunlap Public Library's Collection: MONARCH