by Kevin McCloskey (Author)
A Best Kids' Book Awards winner
"You've got company, Dr. Seuss."--Good Housekeeping
Is it a worm? Is it a snake? No! It's a caterpillar...
...and it's on its way to one of the most magical transformations in the insect world, from a crawling digestive tube to a fluttering glasswing, luna moth, or monarch on its journey across thousands-of-miles.
In the latest addition to KEVIN MCCLOSKEY's beloved Giggle and Learn series, young readers will explore how caterpillars morph into the many different moths and butterflies that help pollinate our world. Growing up is scary, but caterpillars can lead the way!
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PreS-Gr 2--The sixth entry in McCloskey's "Giggle and Learn" series, this is a collection of concise, creative science comics that explore the lives of small, everyday animals. Though the butterfly/moth life cycle is a familiar pedagogical tool, McCloskey's emphasis on the caterpillar stage offers a fresh angle--including the contents of a caterpillar's first meal (they voraciously consume their own egg), their prime methods of movement (silk strands help them move through the trees, and prolegs allow them to hang upside down), and comparisons of a caterpillar's appearance with their butterfly counterpart. Young children, a girl in blue overalls who presents as Black and a boy in a hiking vest who presents as white with red hair, serve as amateur entomologists, explaining each element of the caterpillar's development in a friendly, intentional tone. Caterpillars chime in from the corners of pages with lightly comedic observations. To wit, a caterpillar emits a large burp on the book's title page. McCloskey has an artistic gift for presenting precisely painted scientific illustrations to young children in an unpretentious way, and an unpaneled, intuitive flow from image to image guides the book's subtle narrative logic. This title may appeal to a variety of reading levels, through more advanced narrative text, simpler vocabulary used in caterpillar conversations, and visual elements that clearly document the caterpillar's life cycle without words. VERDICT A multilayered, richly illustrated examination of a familiar crawling creature, yielding new pleasures and perspectives with each turn of the page. A great curricular tie-in for elementary students.--Emilia Packard
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