Butterfly House By: Eve Bunting, Greg Shed Star Rating:

Purchase Amazon

Spoiler Disclaimer

Synopsis

When a little girl saves a tiny caterpillar from a hungry jay, her grandfather helps her build a butterfly house to keep it safe. They decorate a box with pretty flowers and make everything just right for the little caterpillar, then watch as it spins a cocoon and later emerges as a beautiful butterfly. When it's time to set the butterfly free, the girl is sad, but when she grows up, butterflies still come to visit her garden each spring, leaving her convinced that they're thanking her for saving their long-ago ancestor.

Review

Butterfly House is a gentle children's story of a young girl who rescues a caterpillar from a hungry jay. With her grandfather's help, they build a home for the little insect to keep it safe, and then watch as it encases itself in a cocoon and later emerges as a beautiful butterfly. Much later in life, when the girl has become an old woman, the butterflies still come to visit her garden, bringing her joy. The last page of the book includes detailed information on how to raise your own butterfly.

This is a sweet story that teaches children the importance of caring for all living creatures. As a new grandparent, I also enjoyed how the girl worked with and learned from her grandfather and the emphasis that's placed on this family interaction. The illustrations are lovely and compliment the story nicely. The main reason I dropped a star on the rating is that, although I love butterflies (or perhaps because I do), I didn't find the story quite as engaging as I'd hoped. For the most part, it felt like a step-by-step instruction manual on raising a butterfly from a caterpillar. If this is something you want to do, then it would be a great reference. However, I think I was expecting a little more information on the butterfly itself and how it develops. Still, it was a very gentle, pleasant story that I'm sure kids who like butterflies or insects would probably enjoy.

Visit

Eve Bunting @ GoodReads

Greg Shed