Our children are enjoying watching the transformation of a monarch caterpillar to a butterfly.
In the past I've written about the details of raising a monarch butterfly. If you live in an area of the country that this is possible, do give it a try! Somehow we missed doing this the last several years. Either we forgot about it completely, or just didn't seem to find a caterpillar when we went out looking. It especially exciting for the youngest who doesn't really remember past butterfly raising experiences.
If you can't watch a caterpillar - the next best thing is reading about it. We searched our shelves and visited the library to find a whole stack of butterfly books to read this month. Here is a few of our favorites.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Eric Carle
I get warm fuzzies reading this book with all the memories from past years when this was a toddler's favorite. On my list of top ten children's books.
Butterfly House - Eve Bunting
A sweet story of a grandfather and granddaughter raising a butterfly.
The Caterpillar and the Polliwog - Jack Kent
This is the book my four year old asks to read daily. And I remember this book being a well-loved by other four years in our family! Cute story about the metamorphosis of a frog and a butterfly.
Isabel's House of Butterflies - Tony Johnston
Lovely paintings tell of the challenges of rural Mexico and their beloved butterfly trees where thousands of monarchs gather each winter.
From Egg to Butterfly - Shannon Zemlicka
Photographs share the caterpillar to butterfly story.
Fabulous Fluttering Tropical Butterflies - Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
Fascinating facts about butterflies including details about butterfly houses.
The Butterfly Alphabet Book - Brian Cassie
We learned about butterflies we had never heard of before in this book.
Gotta Go! Gotta Go! - Sam Swope
Gotta go to Mexico! Another child's favorite!
Clara Caterpillar - Pamela Duncan Edwards
A fun read that makes even the plain cabbage caterpillar appealing.
Have you raised a caterpillar?
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What wonderful books! I remember The Very Hungry Caterpillar too. What good books.
ReplyDeleteMy sister-in-law actually raised some caterpillars this year - quite the metamorphosis... And very educational!
Hello, Very sweet! It brought back memories...
ReplyDeleteLife is precious! May we all be transformed into His image!
Blessings, Roxy
We are watching five monarchs right now. The smallest one was an egg that a few days later we knew was hatched because there was a hole in the leaf Two will be headed to the top of the habitat soon to form a crysalis. My three youngest are fascinated as they've never seen this before and my two oldest are reliving fond memories. The beauty of homeschooling is that we were able to go to the middle of the science book (even thought the year just started)to the chapter on insect metamorphosis and not only learn and study about it, but see it happen before their very eyes!
ReplyDeleteOur family does the caterpillar--- butterflies every year. We have even taken jars with chrysalis in them, on camping trips and into restaurants because we didn't want to miss the moment. Our son goes for milkweed to feed worms and finds more worms. It will long be a family memory!!
ReplyDeleteDiane Histand Rome, PA
Hello, those books look fantastic. I know the book by Eric Carle. I used to read that to my kids when they were little.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day.
When the boys were younger we able to watch one hatch. ours was a moth.
ReplyDeleteFun! What another great collection of books!
ReplyDelete