Butterfly, Butterfly

Title: Butterfly, Butterfly
Category: Picture Book
Grades: 1-4 years
Author: Petr Horacek
Illustrator: Petr Horacek
Publisher: Candlewick
Date: 2007

Summary:

Lucy plays with a beautiful rainbow-colored butterfly in her garden one day.  The next day, she cannot find it, but an exploration of the garden leads her to discover all sorts of colorful creatures -- pink worms, brown spiders, red ladybugs and more.  Finally her patience is rewarded as the butterfly appears in all its glory. 

Review:

Toddlers will find Lucy's journey through the backyard familiar and may recognize many of the insects she finds.  The illustrations in this book are a riot of color, but large and straightforward enough to keep from overwhelming a toddler.  Die-cut places in the book attract attention and allow some tactile interaction with the book, along with a "peek-a-boo" element as the colors showing through one page turn out to be something else on the next.  The final butterfly appears as a pop up, which will impress an older two, although children at the younger end of the age group may need supervision to avoid tearing it.  the colorful creatures Lucy discovers put in appearances on the endpapers as well, allowing the opportunity for parent-child interaction.