Monday, March 12, 2007

IT'S A BUTTERFLY'S LIFE by Irene Kelly




I am on the lookout for examples of great nonfiction writing. I found a new one this week that I had to add to my classroom collection. It is called IT'S A BUTTERFLY'S LIFE by Irene Kelly. Since there were so many great books for sale at the conference, I had to really justify each purchase I made:-)

I HAD to have this one for lots of reasons:

1. The illustrations are wonderful. The butterflies seem to be flying across the page and there are several butterfly illustrations on each page.

2. The facts are presented in interesting ways. ("You may not be able to taste a cupcake by standing on it, but a butterfly can!")

3. I loved the layout. There is a lot going on on each page. The font and the text layout make it very engaging.

4. The language--it is not so easy to find nonfiction that is crafted well.
One of the great lines:

"Butterflies fly by rippling their wings up and down slowly gliding on air currents, just like birds."

5. Great facts and labels add to the information on each page.

This is a great book to use in a study of butterflies/life cycles, one to use to look hard at the way the author crafted the nonfiction or just a great nonfiction read.

3 comments:

  1. I have to say, I love the idea of tasting a cupcake by standing on it. I'd walk around with Godiva chocolates in my shoes alllll day.

    That line would make a great booktalk intro.

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  2. Thanks for the book recommendation. It looks great and I am going to order it now!

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  3. This book is for sale for $3.00 at Scholastic right now. It's in the "Science and Math Adventures" catalog (code = 918000). My class is currently raising monarch butterflies, so I was excited to see it. After seeing this recommendation, I know I definitely need to get it for them! Thanks!

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