Gotta Go! Gotta Go! [Hardcover]

Sam Swope (Author), Sue Riddle (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

An incredible journey

"I don't know much, but I know what I know. I gotta go! I gotta go! I gotta go to Mexico!" The creepy-crawly bug doesn't know why she does what she does. She only knows she has to do it. But making the journey seems impossible for the slow-moving critter, who has no idea what or where Mexico is. Then an everyday miracle occurs, bringing a transformation that will help her fulfill her destiny. Each autumn, millions of Monarch butterflies migrate from the central and eastern United States and Canada to colonies in the mountains of Mexico, where they mate before flying north in the spring to lay their eggs. In simple, jaunty text and pictures, Sam Swope and Sue Riddle celebrate the amazing story of one of these intrepid bugs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"I don't know much, but I know what I know. I gotta go! I gotta go! I gotta go to Mexico!" chants a black-and-yellow-striped "creepy-crawly bug" as she proceeds slowly across a meadow. When an ant or grasshopper asks her destination, she restates the imperative and "creepy-crawl[s] away just as fast as she [can] go." All this hurrying wearies her, and after a "long and hard and very strange" nap in a cocoon, she awakens to discover orange-and-black wings on her back. Refreshed, she takes flight and reaches Mexico, where she meets other migrating Monarch butterflies. Swope (The Krazees) suggests the urgency of the caterpillar's mission by treating it as a kind of hard-wired biological destiny; repeated key phrases and the butterfly's simplified life cycle underscore its sense of a natural fate. At the conclusion, the tale comes full circle with the hatching of another creepy-crawly bug. Debut children's book artist Riddle complements the lucid narration with charming ink-and-watercolor miniatures. Her closeups of the metamorphosing heroine give way to aerial views of farm and canyon as the Monarch flies southward; a deft use of white space creates a sense of loneliness for the solo bug, culminating in a graceful dance of butterfly couples in a penultimate spread. The clarity of the storytelling and artwork match the heroine's determination. Ages 3-7. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-This is the tale of a "creepy-crawly bug" (Monarch caterpillar), who says "I don't know much, but I know what I know. I gotta go! I gotta go! I gotta go to Mexico!" On her long trek, she meets a grasshopper and an ant, takes a "nice long rest" (metamorphosis), and finally reaches the hibernation grove in Mexico. She wakens in spring to "dance" with another creepy-crawly bug before heading north again to lay her eggs-"-the reason for everything." An author's note and the jacket blurb provide some factual fodder for parents and teachers. Small, full-color illustrations accompany the text. They are attractive, but unremarkable. For a supremely better introduction to the miraculous world of butterfly metamorphosis, try Deborah Heiligman's From Caterpillar to Butterfly (HarperCollins, 1996) or Mary Ling's Butterfly (DK, 1992); for Monarchs in particular use Gail Gibbons's Monarch Butterfly (Holiday, 1989); and for the mysteries of migration, April Pulley Sayre's poetic Home at Last: A Song of Migration (Holt, 1998) is a gem.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (March 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374327572
• ISBN-13: 978-0374327576
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,521,024 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We Love It!, July 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Gotta Go! Gotta Go! (Hardcover)

My 3 1/2 year old daughter and I simply love this book! She asks me to read it to her almost every day, which pleases me immensely (especially since the previous favorite was Snow White!). She is fascinated by the transformation of a bug/caterpillar into a butterfly, and by the cyclical nature of the book. She likes to flip from the last page to the first to point out that they are the same. "It's starting all over again!" she says. I actually got choked up when I first read the line which appears immediately after the butterfly has laid her first eggs: "It was the reason for everything." This is for me the central message of the book and what really speaks to me-- that despite everything and against all odds, life does go inexplicably on. It is such a positive message. I hope that many readers will get to expereince the wonder and power of this seemingly simple, beautiful little book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Factual, entertaining... what more could you want?, July 8, 2001

By 

Thea M. Ryan (South Dakota, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gotta Go! Gotta Go! (Hardcover)

Gotta' Go, Gotta' Go is a wonderful book about a monarch caterpillar and his lifelong "journey." I am a nature center director and we use this book to teach about the magnificent monarch migration. The book is entertaining, fun to read out loud, and best of all, factual.

Eric Carle's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is a cute book, but he did us all a disservice when he wrote that butterflies come out of cocoons. Butterflies hatch out of chrysalis, moths hatch out of cocoons. This book by Sam Swope has the correct information.

You'll love it, your kids will love it, and your kid's science teachers will love it when your child already knows one of the major differences between butterflies and moths.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gotta Get! Gotta Get!, April 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Gotta Go! Gotta Go! (Hardcover)

This book is wonderful! The illustrations are superb and the book simply draws in the young listener. The book is suitable for ages 4 and up, and is the best book for young nature lovers that explains simply the lifecycle of the caterpillar. This book easily compares to the Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, but is much more suitable for the pre-school and early elementary age child. It is better than books describing the Monarch butterfly, as the illustrations are just incredible. A must buy for the nature lover in all kids! Gotta Get! Gotta Get!