March 14 is Learn About Butterflies Day

A butterfly begins life as a tiny egg. Within a week, the egg hatches into a caterpillar. The caterpillar eats leaves and flowers until it’s much, much bigger, and then develops a shell, called a chrysalis, that protects the caterpillar while it morphs into a butterfly. Chrysalises can often be found hanging under leaves or branches. After 10-15 days, a beautiful butterfly emerges! For more information about butterflies, check out our collection of nonfiction butterfly books, below.

How Does a Caterpillar Change?: Life Cycles with the Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Hustle Bustle Bugs by Catherine Bailey

Butterflies Are Pretty ... Gross! (Nature's Top Secrets) by Rosemary Mosco

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

Out of Nowhere by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros

Monarch Butterfly (New & Updated) by Gail Gibbons

Butterflies for Kids (Junior Scientists) by Lauren Davidson

Butterfly Is Patient (Aston/Long Nature Books) by Dianna Hutts Aston

Butterfly for a King: Saving Hawaii's Kamehameha Butterflies by Cindy Trumbore

Winged Wonders: Solving the Monarch Migration Mystery by Meeg Pincus

My Book of Butterflies by Geraldo Valério

Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman

Sensational Butterflies by Ben Rothery

The Big Book of Bugs (Big Book) by Yuval Zommer

Caterpillar to Butterfly (National Geographic Kids: Level 1) by Laura Marsh