Butterfly Books for Kids

Whether you homeschool, want to introduce preschoolers to nature, or like to encourage learning outside school, quality nonfiction books on your kids' level are necessary. Here are four butterfly books for kids and how they stack up against each other.

Hogner's Butterflies

Butterflies by Dorothy Childs Hogner is an older book, so it contains only black and white drawings. But the sketches are large and plentiful, with a picture on nearly every spread. Unlike the other three butterfly books for kids, this one shows the butterfly with the plant it frequents in the same sketch. If you want to go out and find these butterflies in their natural habitat, this feature will be helpful in identifying the right plants.

Large print with spacious margins makes the layout comfortable for reading before naptime or for following along with a beginning reader. Bold-faced headings provide easy divisions if you want to break the reading up into several sessions. Sections provide information on the life cycle of butterflies, classification of these insects, and raising one yourself before you release it.

A reference to the Ice Age (56) could be controversial if your family has a problem with evolution theories. Creation scientists do not deny the occurrence of an ice age, but their theory does differ from the evolutionists' ideas. (Please see "The Ice Age and the Genesis Flood" by Michael Oard for more details on the creationist perspective.) If your children don't understand a difference exists between the two theories, they might be confused.

Coleman's Butterflies

Graham Coleman's book Butterflies (part of The New Creepy Crawly Collection) is similar to Hogner's in subject matter. Since it's been published more recently, however, it does offer color pictures of the insects. Another difference is the section that briefly discusses how butterflies have been featured in myths and folk tales from different cultures. This section provides a natural tie-in between science and social studies.

The back matter contains a useful list of books and videos you can explore if you want to extend the study of butterflies. Because I have not screened any of these additional resources, I can't comment on their quality. But this list would certainly provide a good starting point for more resources.

Sandved's Butterfly Alphabet

Kjell B. Sandved is both the author and photographer behind Butterfly Alphabet. It contains little, if any, scientific information about butterflies. But it's the most unique of these butterfly books for kids. Each spread contains an enlarged, close-up photo of a butterfly's wings. Sandved has found A through Z on those wings.

A short rhyming verse accompanies each picture. The poetry is not as impressive, particularly in its comparison between butterflies and angels. (Several biblical passages speak of angels as mighty warriors of God.) However, the photos really are fascinating. If any of the verses bother you, you could always make up your own or just not read them.

McKeever's Butterflies of North America

This final entry on the list of butterfly books for kids is also different from the first two. It does provide some information, but it's primarily a children's field guide. Divisions are based on habitat. Within each section, you will find numerous types of butterflies. Color pictures are accompanied by descriptions which communicate, among other things, which plants the butterflies prefer and which months they are in flight. Pictures also indicate if there are differences between the appearances of the male and female insects.

You will also find directions for various hands-on projects, including capturing and raising a butterfly, keeping a field journal, and identifying butterflies. This one, unlike the other butterfly books for kids, would be suited primarily for older children. It is too advanced to be of much use for preschoolers and even some younger elementary students.

Butterfly Books for Kids: Which Ones to Buy

Which butterfly books for kids you actually buy should depend on your purposes. If you're looking for information, Hogner's or Coleman's work would be best. If you're looking for a book with ideas for science projects, McKeever's field guide is the best way to go. If you don't know your plants, though, Hogner's book may be more helpful. Roughly the second half is about the identification of particular butterflies or groups, and these illustrations contain the plants where you're likely to find the insects. Butterfly Alphabet is good if you want an imaginative approach; you could even have your kids write their own poems to accompany the photos.

Title: Butterflies
Author: Dorothy Childs Hogner
Illustrator: Nils Hogner
Publisher: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York
Copyright: 1962
Pages: 69
Genre: Children's nonfiction

Title: Butterflies
Author: Graham Coleman
Illustrator: Tony Gibbons
Publisher: Gareth Stevens Publishing, Wilwaukee
Copyright: 1997
Pages: 24
ISBN: 0-8368-1911-X
Genre: Children's nonfiction

Title: The Butterfly Alphabet
Author/Photographer: Kjell B. Sandved
Publisher: Scholastic, New York
Copyright: 1996
Pages: 64
ISBN: 0-590-48003-0
Genre: Children's nonfiction

Title: Butterflies of North America
Author: Susan McKeever
Illustrator: Brian Hargreaves
Publisher: Thunder Bay Press, San Diego
Copyright: 1995
Pages: 80
ISBN: 1-57145-018-1
Genre: Children's nonfiction