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Summary
Summary
This School Library Journal Best Book of the Year celebrates everything butterfly, from migration to metamorphosis! Kids will love reading about Velma's own transformation from a timid first grader into a confident scientist.
It's hard to be Velma entering first grade. That's because everyone has marvelous memories of her two older sisters, who were practically perfect first graders, and no one even notices Velma. But all that changes on a class trip to the butterfly conservatory, a place neither of her sisters has been. When a monarch roosts on Velma's finger and won't budge for days--no one will ever forget it . . . or her!
Here's the perfect addition to any science curriculum.
Author Notes
Alan Madison is the author of some very funny books for children, including The Littlest Grape Stomper , and Pecorino Plays Ball . He lives in New York City.
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Kevin Hawkes has illustrated the New York Times bestselling Library Lion and My Little Sister Ate One Hare . He lives in Gorham, Maine.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
At the center of Madison's (The Littlest Grape Stomper) picture book is first-grader Velma Gratch; despite her round eyeglasses and bushy red pigtails, she worries that she isn't as memorable as her well-known older siblings-until she discovers butterflies. "She adored the ones with colorful names: brown elfin, frosted flasher, sleepy orange. And the ones with funny names: comma, question mark, American snout." During a school trip to a butterfly conservatory, which Velma aptly calls a "can-serve-the-story" in a humorous if too-cute Junie B.-esque malapropism, the otherwise ordinary story veers abruptly into fantasy. A monarch perches on Velma's finger and won't let go (she attends ballet class with it on her finger and sleeps with her butterfly hand on a pillow), finally giving her the distinction she craves. Hawkes's (Library Lion) paintings ably convey the colorful differences between the types of butterflies. His work shines most brightly, perhaps, on his witty endpapers: the opening papers show caterpillars (including an "orange-tipped Gratch"); the papers at the end display butterflies (Velma is now a "Small Gratchis"), underscoring the character's own metamorphosis. Both adults and emerging conservationists should appreciate this leisurely story about finding one's bliss. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
When she enters first grade, Velma Gratch feels lost in the shadows of her two older sisters: Everyone from the class guinea pig to the principal had magnificent memories of the older Gratch girls. But they could hardly even recall Velma's name. At first Velma misbehaves to get attention. Then she becomes fascinated by the butterflies she is studying in science class. On a class trip to a butterfly conservatory, a monarch lands on her finger and stays put for days. Velma and her butterfly become so popular and distracting that the principal calls for the monarch's release, and Velma, with the entire school in tow, returns it to the conservatory just as the other monarchs take flight for their winter migration. Madison's cleverly woven butterfly facts bolster this amusing story of a younger sibling's fight for individuality, while Hawkes extends the humor and emotion in vivid, colored-pencil images of first-graders, insects, siblings, and, best of all, Velma whose wide, outstretched orange pigtails are as bright as a monarch's wings.--Engberg, Gillian Copyright 2007 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Velma is the youngest of the Gratch sisters and longs to be special in her own right. Her flame-red tresses are pulled into tight ponytails that mirror her moods. They droop in dismay, rise during moments of intellectual absorption, and are positively airborne when she's happy-a state that is challenging to achieve because of her birth order. Her eldest sister is gifted musically and the second one is athletic. Velma's niche eludes her until a science lesson on butterflies and a field trip to the conservatory (where a monarch perches on her finger and stays-for days) transform her world. Patterns in Madison's lyrical text are mirrored in Hawkes's sensitive but humorous compositions, a choice that creates aesthetic pleasure and propels the narrative with seamless, rhythmic buoyancy. From the colophon in the shape of a butterfly to the labeled caterpillars-and then mature winged creatures-on the front and back endpapers, respectively, it is clear that much attention has been paid to design. The book is a visual and verbal delight. While it is a perfect curricular tie-in, don't wait for an excuse to share this story of a gentle but plucky girl determined to discover her talents. Kids will relate to Velma's struggle and rejoice in her victory.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
First-time first-grader Velma Gratch finds that extricating herself from the grandiose shadows of her older sisters is a daunting task. Frieda and Fiona were beloved of every teacher that Velma now has, and even when she does get some attention it tends to be of the negative variety. It's only when her class begins a unit on butterflies that Velma really begins to come into her own. Science is an area that neither of her sisters ever gave much thought to, and a class trip to the local butterfly conservatory is heaven to Velma. Unexpectedly, while she's there, a single monarch lands on her finger, refusing to let go. The solution to this predicament happily gives both girl and butterfly exactly what they need. Madison's tale of a child finding a way to distinguish herself works in a variety of fun butterfly facts. Hawkes deftly replicates the wingspan of a monarch butterfly in Velma's thick ponytails, giving the general impression of a girl emerging from her old self into her new. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
