Books about Butterflies
These books, selected from the Estabrook Library, are mostly non-fiction sources of information about butterflies but a few are good stories about butterflies. Most classes at Estabrook raise Monarch butterflies from caterpillars and released them at migration time, but the second grade studies butterflies and caterpillars in more detail. In Westford Massachusetts there is a living butterfly zoo called The Butterfly Place in Papillon Park where you can see and learn about butterflies. The Butterfly Place phone number is (508)392-1055. A good site with information about butterflies is hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey's Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center, which also has web atlases of moths, dragonflies and mayflies. Another site with information on studying and attracting butterflies is the North American Butterfly Association.
Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibons, Holliday House, NY, 1989
This fairly easy to read book describes the life cycle and body parts of the monarch butterfly and includes clear instructions on how to raise one.
Butterfly House by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Greg Shed, Scholastic Press, New York, NY, 1999
With the help of her grandfather, a little girl makes a house for a larva and watches it develop into a butterfly before setting it free, and every spring after that butterflies come to visit her.
Eastern Butterflies, by Alexander B. Klots, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA, 1979
All you ever wanted to know about identifying butterflies in the Eastern US, this is one of the Peterson Field Guides. This is a good book to carry into your garden to see exactly which kind of butterfly is flitting among your flowers but it isn't really easy to read.
Butterflies and Moths, A Guide to the More Common American Species by Robert T. Mitchell and Herbert S. Zim, illustrated by Andre Durenceau, Golden Press, New York, NY, 1987
Another excellent and well illustrated field guide, this is easier to use by younger students than Eastern Butterflies, but still is packed with scientific information.
A Golden Book of Butterflies by J. F. Gates Clarke, illustrated by Andre Durenceau, Golden Press, New York, NY, 1963
This is another guide to 187 different North American Butterflies but in a larger book that has more narrative, won't fit in your pocket, and with a bit less emphasis on how to identify the different species.
Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope, pictures by Sue Riddle, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, NY 2000
A creepy-crawly bug doesn't know why but is certain that she must go to Mexico. This is an easy to read story based on the life cycle of a monarch butterfly.
Where Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder, pictures by Lynne Cherry, Lodestar Books, Dutton, New York, NY 1989
This book invites you to imagine what is is like to change from a caterpillar into a black swallowtail butterfly. It also has practical tips on how to choose garden plants to attract butterflies.
The Butterfly Boy, by Laurence Yep, pictures by Jeanne M. Lee, Straus and Giroux, New York, NY 1993
This is a beautifully told and illustrated story of a Chinese boy who dreamed that he was a butterfly.It is based on the writings of Chuang Tzu who lived in China in the fourth century B.C.
Monarch Butterfly Winging North and South by Marion W. Marcher, illustrated by Barbara Latham, Holiday House, 1954
A clear, simple, easy to read, large type story of the life cycle of a monarch butterfly.
Monarchs by Katheryn Lasky, photographs by Christopher G. Knight, A Gulliver Green Book, Harcourt Brace & Company, New York, 1993
Exceptional photographs are a feature of this book that describes the migrations of the monarch butterflies and two towns that protect their winter habitats.
The Great Monarch Butterfly Chase by R. W. N. Prior, illustrated by Beth Glick, Bradbury Press, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, NY 1993
A story about Jason and Tommy who follow a monarch butterfly on migration from their home town in the northern United States to Mexico.
An Extraordinary Life, The Story of a Monarch Butterfly by Laurence Pringle, paintings by Bob Marstall, Orchard Books, New York, NY 1997
Follow one particular monarch butterfly from a Massachusetts hayfield to Mexico and back in this factual but gripping narrative.
A Monarch Butterfly's Life written and illustrated by John Himmelman, Children's Press division of Grolier Publishing, New York , NY1999
Another well illustrated and easy to read story of the life cycle of the monarch butterfly
Zoobooks, Butterflies the March 1995 Volume 12 Number 6 of Zoobooks a monthly publication of Wildlife Education Ltd., San Diego CA
This particular volume of this magazine has a number of butterfly related activities and many fine photographs and illustrations.
These are links to all our other Estabrook Library book lists.
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This page created by David L. Kaufman, Webmaster. Updated 2/12/08