Garden spaces are dedicated to those perennials they desire. They hold symbolic places in religions and cultures around the world. They are studied, respected, and protected. Entire units of study in classrooms revolve around their life cycles. If one comes near to you, you hold your breath, hoping. You hope in the deepest part of your heart, one will someday, however briefly, pause and rest on you.
These gloriously colored, winged insects glide, dip, flutter, and sip through our summer world in the northern hemisphere (and in other seasons around the globe). In The Truth About Butterflies (Seriously Funny Facts About Your Favorite Animals) (Roaring Brook Press, August 11, 2020) written and illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III, the seventh book in his seriously super series, you'll learn why these beings are studied, respected, and protected. You'll be captivated (and entertained) on every page.
Nope. Nope.
Nope. Nope.
Yup.
These are butterflies.
Butterflies are a type of colorful
flying insect.
And I'm going to eat one. (cat)
They're my favorite things with wings. (girl)
Wow.
Okay. (bird perched on girl's wheelchair back)
First, a match to other insect characteristics is shown for butterflies. An array of variable sizes from locations around the globe are shown in their actual sizes. Knowing there are more than 18,000 butterfly species is amazingly wonderful.
Details are provided about the purpose of their wings before a compare and contrast section follows about moths. Attention focuses on their proboscis, antennae, compound eyes, and tarsi. We then shift into how shifty they truly are.
A careful, explanatory guide shows how butterflies begin as an egg. We get to see some of the specie butterfly eggs, side by side (magnified). After the egg hatches, a caterpillar eats and grows, eats and grows, and molts. Did you know they eat the old skin? Caterpillars are clever, too. They can look like bird poop or be toxic to protect themselves.
After the caterpillar loses its final skin, it fashions a chrysalis and becomes a pupa. In this shape, the magic begins. An adult butterfly is forming. When the butterfly emerges it still has some steps to finish before it can fly. The circle of their lives begins again as males and females seek each other before eggs can be laid.
As this cycle is explained, it may seem like an easy progression, but harsh weather can interrupt the progress. Different butterflies rely on different solutions, like hibernating or migrating. People are a huge threat, but also can be one of their best allies. The more we know, the better we can help in more than one way.
You may believe you have a grasp on your knowledge of a specific animal, but that all changes when you read a book penned by Maxwell Eaton III. This author finds the facts, basic and bizarre, and presents them in a marvelous blend of easily understood statements, specific labels, and commentary from the featured animal and other animals in their realm. This commentary supplies us with comedy, but also some truths. Once we have completed his exploration of butterflies, he switches to several methods of butterfly preservation through gardening and raising them in meticulous order. Here is another sample passage with a portion of the expanded facts and conversations.
Butterflies are known for their incredible wings. Along with flying and finding mates, each species uses its wings to avoid being eaten by larger predators like birds, snakes, frogs, toads, and lizards.
But not cats, right? (cat)
Camouflage helps butterflies blend in with their surroundings.
Don't. . .
move . . . (Question mark butterfly)
Nothing around here but old leaves. (bird flying near the Question mark butterfly)
When you look at the open and matching dust jacket and book case, you see on the right, front, a beautiful display of the featured subjects with one of the butterflies making an astute comment. They are flying among flowers more apt to hold the nectar they desire. This sets the stage for the first five words uttered by a butterfly prior to the book's beginning.
To the left, back, up close and personal, is the cat standing in some grass between two stalks of milkweed. From one, a chrysalis is hanging. The cat has just looked at its watch and says:
Any minute now.
This is the start of the hilarious attempts of the cat to consume a butterfly.
On the opening and closing endpapers is a deep rich mint green. On both the initial and formal title pages, Maxwell Eaton III includes words uttered by a swallowtail. In the first setting are four flowers not favored by butterflies, but the second scene holds a bounty of blossoms butterflies enjoy.
Rendered
using pen and ink with digital coloring
these images are highly animated, informative, and humorous. Bold black lines are filled with vibrant colors. Diagrams are easy to understand and captioned.
Each illustration spans two pages with the exception of one full-page picture and a series of panels at the close of the book. Readers' eyes move from one element in each visual to the next eagerly and flawlessly. They will pause to appreciate every single detail. Perspectives are altered to accentuate the pacing.
One of my many, many favorite illustrations is the double-page picture showcasing the contrasts between a butterfly and a moth. It is a single setting but, on the left, it is during daylight and on the right, it is at night. On the left is a Tiger swallowtail. On the right is a Poplar hawkmoth. Each is accompanied by at least one other butterfly or moth of their specie. Colorful balloons with facts point to parts on each. They each make a statement as does an extra moth. An extra inserted illustration focuses on the characteristics of their wings. A large sunflower in bloom is placed in the gutter. (I believe the butterfly and moth are pictured as their actual size.)
No personal or professional collection will be complete without a copy or two of The Truth About Butterflies (Seriously Funny Facts About Your Favorite Animals) written and illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III. It is outstanding in its presentation of facts, the inclusion of humor, and the illustrations. At the close of the book two pages are devoted to the Butterfly File. Here we learn about body parts for a Monarch caterpillar, butterfly habitats, puddling, butterfly and moth pupa, monarch migration, caterpillar defense, and basking. References for further research are included. The final page adds to the laughter factor. (You might want to learn more about four of his previous books highlighted in an earlier blog post here.)
To learn more about Maxwell Eaton III and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website. Maxwell Eaton III has accounts on Instagram, and Twitter. At the publisher's website you can view six two-page representations.
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