cover image A Butterfly Is Patient

A Butterfly Is Patient

Dianna Hutts Aston, illus. by Sylvia Long. Chronicle, $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8118-6479-4

This companion to An Egg Is Quiet and A Seed Is Sleepy is as delicate, elegant, and informative as its predecessors. Under headings that echo the book's title ("A butterfly is helpful," "A butterfly is poisonous"), Aston explores the development, habits, migration, and attributes of one of nature's flashier, yet familiar creations. Long's watercolors are precise but enchanting as ever, especially in the "A butterfly is spectacular!" spread, which shows the colorful diversity of more than a dozen specimens, and in another devoted to the migration of monarch butterflies, seen swarming over a quiet desert. A lovely mix of science and wonder. Ages 5%E2%80%938. (June)