My, Oh My--A Butterfly!: All about Butterflies (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library)

The life cycle of a butterfly is explained through clunky rhymes, ostensibly spoken by the Cat in the Hat, who's accompanied by his cohorts from the children's book classic.

Gr 12Facts about butterflies are delivered through rhyming couplets by the Cat in the Hat. "They are colorful insects/whose lives, you will see, /are very exciting./Come on, follow me!" He teaches the basics to Dr. Seuss-like characters, starting with how a caterpillar hatches from a tiny egg. The names and descriptions of a variety of butterflies are included, and monarch migration is highlighted. Although some of the rhymes are a stretch, such as, "With this tube, the pro-bos-cis, /a butterfly draws/nectar from flowers/like we drink from straws!," the familiarity of the characters and the topic is sure to draw readers. If cartoon material is not what you are looking for, try Amy Bauman and E. Jaediker Norsgaard's "The Wonder of Butterflies" (Gareth Stevens, 2000)."Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX" Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.