My Book of Butterflies

This oversized book’s vivid colors and huge illustrations, created with paper collage, acrylic paint and color pencil, offer a feast for the eyes while the snippets of descriptive text intrigue the reader. The author/illustrator chose a random selection of his favorite butterflies from around the world to dazzle the senses. Not only are they brilliant in color with limitless patterns, their habits will captivate the curious.

To begin, though, you won’t get past the end papers without being amazed—caterpillars at the front, and chrysalides at the back for each species in the book. Take your time examining them: the sheer variety of nature’s designs is mind-boggling. In the “Introduction”, Geraldo Valério shares his childhood fascination with garden butterflies in Brazil that inspired further learning and the imaginative impressions that grace his artistic depictions. A double-spread shows metamorphosis in crisp, easy-to-follow detail. Butterfly parts are explained next with brief text and a well-labelled diagram. A map is included to show all the continents where butterflies live (excluding only Antarctica), color coded with page numbers for each group of species that follow.

The species pages are a delight to view: huge illustrations, many double-spreads, in vibrant colors focus readers’ attention first on the butterfly itself, then on the stylized plant drawings to show its preferred habitat. Readers will have fun spotting some caterpillars subtly added to a leaf or blade of grass. Where appropriate, illustrations show the folded-wing colors that often aid in camouflage: Blue Morpho’s dazzling blue reverses to dull brown. The largest butterfly in the world—the dinner-plate sized Queen Alexandra’s Birdwing—shares a two-page spread with the tiniest—the dime-sized Tiny Grass Blue.

Text inserts for each butterfly include a few lines with selected details. They may only tell what the species eats, where it lays eggs, why it might taste bad to a predator, or how fast it flies. For the Red Admiral, readers only learn that it aggressively defends its territory but will approach and land on humans. Often, camouflage details are explained: the boomerang shape of the Orange Tip butterfly’s green chrysalis makes it hard to see anchored to a stem. For each, the minimal, reader-friendly information is enough to intrigue and arouse curiosity. There’s a short “Glossary” and “Index”, and a list of print and online resources for further investigation.

Spend some time enjoying, or sharing, the lovely art in My Book of Butterflies, and you’ll want to venture into your own garden to see what butterflies might be flitting around. At the least, you’ll have a much greater appreciation for these small, delicate creatures and their fascinating ways.