4.0 out of 5 stars
Views From a Children's Literature Student, December 2, 2003
This review is from: Butterflies (Animal Kingdom (Buddy Books)) (Library Binding)
This great introductory book about the beautiful appearance and physical characteristics of the insect known as a butterfly teaches children to identify butterflies body parts, which like all insects, consist of six legs, a head, thorax, abdomen, antennas, and wings. It also explains where and what types of habitats they can be found in such as jungles, and deserts. It displays their beautiful scale colored wings and explains that they are created for disguise from predators, and that they are also classified into different families based on their color schemes. Children will also learn what their diets consist of, and how each butterfly goes through different stages as it progresses throughout it's life span.
Julie Murray has published over forty books within this series and each book is about insects or animals around the world. In Butterflies, as well as in her other series, she provides children with numerous ways to expand their knowledge in a fun and interesting way. The need for intellectual security, or the need to know, may be developed even more specifically for their age and curiosity than an ordinary textbook. The book begins with a table of contents. Each page preceding it has new up-to date informational facts that stand out upon the white background. Any new expansion of vocabulary that may be difficult to understand is highlighted in bright orange text, and explained at the end of the story. The photographed pictures on each page create aesthetic satisfaction for small readers and establish an up-close and detailed understanding of the reading. Photos are accompanied by a review of the most important notes one has learned from the reading and are displayed in bold text inside highlighted boxes. After the reading, a list of different activities such as projects and web sights are listed to give additional educational information as well as helping to furthering one's interest and it also involves fun activities in which children can apply the information they have learned. Since the book deals with butterflies there is no stereotyping present. Nor is there any anthropomorphism due to the fact that there is no personalization of Mother Nature. The book clearly identifies adequate butterfly facts that strike the curiosity of little minds in an appropriate and in-depth manner for children at a reading level of grade two. However, due to the beautiful photos and numerous facts, interest in this book could be anywhere from grades K-3.
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