I Am a Butterfly: A Story about Big, Beautiful Changes

This charming tale about the monarch butterfly's life cycle will inspire wonder at this mysterious process of change. Readers will be motivated to attract monarchs to their own backyard and help the endangered monarch population. Butterfly photographs throughout will capture the reader's imagination!

—Dr. Lincoln P. Brower, Research Professor of Biology at Sweet Briar College, and author/co-author of more than 200 publications about monarch butterflies

This lovely children's book captures the science and the splendor of the monarch's miraculous adventure from egg to butterfly. The author's own dazzling photographs guide the reader on the fascinating journey of metamorphosis and serve as a metaphor for the beauty to be found on the other side of surprising life changes.

—Tierra Curry, Senior Scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, works to protect endangered species and leads the Center's campaign to save the monarch butterfly

I Am a Butterfly is an exquisite, metaphorical story describing the organic transformation of one butterfly as it moves through its life cycle. The various life cycle stages, so beautifully photographed, parallel the process and patience needed to mindfully cultivate awareness of our own human experience of change.

—Susan Lubar Solvang, Founder and President, Growing Minds, Inc.

Reader's Favorite: 5-Star Review

I Am a Butterfly: A Story About Big, Beautiful Changes is a nonfiction educational picture book for children written by Sally Stone. The main character is a beautiful monarch butterfly, but she didn't always look like she does now. At first, she was a tiny egg that was attached to a milkweed leaf. Then, she became a plain, little caterpillar who ate milkweed leaves and gradually turned into a larger, yellow, white, and black striped caterpillar. I Am a Butterfly follows the stages of development of a monarch butterfly using full-color photographs, including ones that use a penny as a comparison to help the reader visualize the size of monarch eggs and growing caterpillars. Stone includes a page filled with interesting information about the monarch, its migration patterns, and its dependency on the milkweed plant. She also provides a chart of the monarch butterfly life cycle as well as a monarch resource page and useful tips on how to help monarchs thrive in your area.

Sally Stone's nonfiction educational picture book for children, I Am a Butterfly: A Story About Big, Beautiful Changes, is a fascinating look at the life cycle of a monarch butterfly. I loved the author's photographs, especially those which gave me a sense of the sizes of the eggs and the developing caterpillars. Each picture is a gem, allowing the reader to see the light filtering through the butterfly's wings and to clearly differentiate their legs, mouthparts, and antennae. This book is both educational and entertaining, and it got me enthused enough to seriously consider setting up my own monarch butterfly habitat. I suspect that young readers will get as excited about butterflies as I did after reading this informative and well-presented book. The vocabulary is perfect for new readers to work through, and I Am a Butterfly is also a great selection for story time. It even gives advice on how to get butterflies to land on your clothing! I Am a Butterfly: A Story About Big, Beautiful Changes is most highly recommended.

—Reviewed by Jack Magnus