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24th out of 78 books
—
131 voters
Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian
In the Middle Ages, people believed that insects were evil, born from mud in a process called spontaneous generation. Maria Merian was only a child, but she disagreed. She watched carefully as caterpillars spun themselves cocoons, which opened to reveal summer birds, or butterflies and moths. Maria studied the whole life cycle of the summer birds, and documented what she l...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
April 27th 2010
by Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
(first published 2010)
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Mar 14, 2011
Lisa Vegan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
kids who like nature & science and/or history; for learning about an accomplished girl
The historical note at the end really shows what an amazing girl and woman Maria Sibylla Merian was. While reading the book I thought a Middle Ages girl having her dreams wasn’t very realistic, but it turns out she fulfilled those dreams, and it showed me yet again that people are people, no matter when or where they live or have lived.
I have really mixed feelings about this book. I both greatly appreciated and felt lukewarm about the illustrations. Difficult to explain, but I was ambivalent.
Th...more
I have really mixed feelings about this book. I both greatly appreciated and felt lukewarm about the illustrations. Difficult to explain, but I was ambivalent.
Th...more
"In the Middle Ages, people believed that insects were evil, born from mud in a process called spontaneous generation. Maria Merian was only a child, but she disagreed."
I love the idea behind this true story!* Maria was drawn to insects, especially butterflies, and couldn't believe that they were creations of the devil. (She also studied tadpoles and frogs.) She had to be very sneaky in capturing some to study because if people saw her doing it, she would be accused of witchcraft! She watched th...more
I love the idea behind this true story!* Maria was drawn to insects, especially butterflies, and couldn't believe that they were creations of the devil. (She also studied tadpoles and frogs.) She had to be very sneaky in capturing some to study because if people saw her doing it, she would be accused of witchcraft! She watched th...more
5 likes · like · see review
**I really, really hate it when Goodreads eats my long, thoughtful comments.**
Interesting, beautiful book.
Lisa Vegan's review and follow up comments about this book sent me back to read it for a third time. The book opens by stating that "'Summer birds' was a medieval name for the mysterious butterflies and moths that appeared suddenly during warm weather and vanished in the fall." Except that the Historical Notes state that "Maria Sibylia Merian was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1647." That's...more
Interesting, beautiful book.
Lisa Vegan's review and follow up comments about this book sent me back to read it for a third time. The book opens by stating that "'Summer birds' was a medieval name for the mysterious butterflies and moths that appeared suddenly during warm weather and vanished in the fall." Except that the Historical Notes state that "Maria Sibylia Merian was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1647." That's...more
Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian is a fine picture book, though I actually would have preferred a more in-depth look at the life of the inquisitive, intelligent title heroine. Maria Merian grew from a very young age to be keenly interested in art and science, and it was her experiments as a kid that first paved the way for universal knowledge about the larval origins of creatures such as butterflies. The scientific work that she pioneered was interesting and important, and we are b...more
I have just finished Penelope Farmer's "The Summer Birds" so I was excited to read this. Sure enough, the introductory note that explains that the term refers to the mysterious butterflies does illuminate the novel, as I assume Farmer is referencing the medieval superstition to help evoke her themes. But that's just an aside to those of you who have, or will, read the novel.
More relevantly, Engle's picture-book is marvelous. I love the art by Paschkis, and the story of a young girl who risked be...more
More relevantly, Engle's picture-book is marvelous. I love the art by Paschkis, and the story of a young girl who risked be...more
Most Kindergarten classes have caterpillars that they monitor and watch until they turn into butterflies. This book would be a great book for an introduction to that activity. This book offers information about the different stages that occur while a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. While students are watching their class caterpillar, they can compare what is happening to their caterpillar compared to the book. This would also allow the students to see what they can expect to occur next. The...more
Margarita Engle is appealing to the history buff in me. By reading all of her books I am learning much on the subject without even realizing it! Summer Birds The Butterflies of Maria Merian is the true story of a young girl who began collecting butterflies and other insects before the creatures were understood and instead were feared. Through her diligent observations it became known that metamorphasis in creatures is natural. Hopefully the reader recognizes that metamorphasis within the person...more
In Germany in the mid-1600's, a young girl named Maria Merian studied caterpillars, butterflies, and toads in secret. She was fascinated with their life cycles and knew something most people did not, that metamorphosis was a fact. People of Maria's time believed butterflies and frogs came from the mud, and that they were "beasts of the devil". Had Maria's studies been found out, she surely would have been accused of witchcraft. Maria kept detailed paintings and notes of her observations, and gre...more
In the Middle Ages, people believed that insects were evil, born from mud in a process called spontaneous generation. Maria Merian was only a child, but she disagreed. She studied caterpillars in secret, for the neighbors would have accused her of witchcraft if they knew. Maria watched carefully as her caterpillars spun themselves cocoons, which opened to reveal summer birds, or butterflies and moths. She saw the whole life cycle of the summer birds and documented what she learned in vibrant pai...more
Very simple, colorful (the amazing Julie Paschkis is the illustrator) biography of Maria Merian, a German girl born in 1647 who was captivated by insects and other small, living creatures. She grew up to become a famous scientist, artist, and explorer (at a time when many people still believed that insects sprang up from the mud!). She published an amazing, astonishing work called Die Insekten Surinams (Insects of Surinam) that we have at SPL and which is full of her colorful paintings of caterp...more
I enjoyed this but didn't love it. My children and I did really enjoy the illustration right after she says "Sometimes I think that I am like a summer bird, waiting to fly..." Then on the next page she is pictured with butterfly wings and a sail boat is pictured with butterfly wings and so on...very beautiful and whimsical. I thought the story telling was interesting but not awe-inspiring and it is disappointing that her author's note was not more accurate. Maria Meridan lived in the late 1700's...more
Beautiful art! This is the story of Maria Merian who by the age of thirteen was well on her way of disproving the ancient theory that beetles, caterpillars, frogs, worms, etc. were formed from mud and considered "beasts of the devil." She secretly collected these unforbiddens because she could have been accused of witchcraft. She watched her charges carefully and documented what she learned in vibrant paintings. Her beautiful books were published and her work helped people understand the life cy...more
Another liberating historical fiction (this one a picture book) from Margarita Engle. It tells the 17th century story of Maria Merian, who at the ripe old age of 13 disproved contemporary theories about the origin of insects and other small animals, formerly thought to be evil things born of the mud through spontaneous generation. She did it by watching them. Later she painted them.
It's a beautiful story, and Julie Paschkis's illustrations are perfect for it. A couple of the butterfly panels tow...more
It's a beautiful story, and Julie Paschkis's illustrations are perfect for it. A couple of the butterfly panels tow...more
The true story of Maria Merian, who lived in 17th century Germany. Apparantly in the Middle Ages, everyone believed that insects spontaneously generated from the mud and hence were evil --an idea going back to the ancient Greeks. But thirteen year old Maria watches them, sees the butterflies lay eggs, which hatch into caterpillars, and turn into butterflies. She observes their whole life cycle. Maria loves to paint and records details of what type of leaves they ate and what flowers they drink n...more
This book is for: 2-5
Topic: Life Cycles & Scientific Method
Reflection: This book is good for exposing children to other people's prior misconceptions about butterflies and frogs, and how scientist of long ago make discoveries through observations. Students could talk about their prior knowledge of butterflies before reading the book. What they use to think happened, what they know now, and then read the book. After reading the book see if any of their misconceptions were addressed. Great boo...more
Topic: Life Cycles & Scientific Method
Reflection: This book is good for exposing children to other people's prior misconceptions about butterflies and frogs, and how scientist of long ago make discoveries through observations. Students could talk about their prior knowledge of butterflies before reading the book. What they use to think happened, what they know now, and then read the book. After reading the book see if any of their misconceptions were addressed. Great boo...more
Jan 31, 2013
Dolly
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
parents reading with their children
Shelves:
art,
biography,
childrens,
picture-book-club,
2013,
germany,
gardens-flowers,
science,
south-central-america
This is a simple, but true, tale of a young girl who enjoyed studying creatures and nature and refused to accept the scientific beliefs of her time. The narrative is short and even younger children will appreciate the wonders of looking at caterpillars and butterflies, learning about the life cycles of these creatures. And our girls liked the fact that it was a young girl who discovered the truth.
The illustrations are very bold and bright and will appeal to children of all ages. I had never hea...more
The illustrations are very bold and bright and will appeal to children of all ages. I had never hea...more
Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Julie Paschkis is an inspiring historical biography with a strong focus on the childhood of a young German girl who observed and studied metamorphisis at a time when women rarely engaged in scientific study.
Maria watched caterpillars spin cocoons from which emerged summer birds, or butterflies and moths. Maria studied the life cycle of the summer birds, and documented what she learned in vibrant paintings.
She dispr...more
Maria watched caterpillars spin cocoons from which emerged summer birds, or butterflies and moths. Maria studied the life cycle of the summer birds, and documented what she learned in vibrant paintings.
She dispr...more
What amazed me when I read this book is that people could actually believe that insects and reptiles and amphibians could "spontaneously generate" from mud! Maria Merian was a 17th-century girl who painted and studied insects and small animals, observing their life cycles and noting that they were not born from mud. "Summer birds" refers to the medieval slang for butterflies, who seemed to appear during the warm months and disappear, seemingly into the mud, when it got cold. I wanted to give thi...more
Hmmm…I am not quite sure what my reaction to this book is. I have always been fascinated with history, so that aspect of the book was interesting to me but overall, I just did not get into it the story. I didn’t really dislike the book either but I do think it is a bit odd that a book about this great artist would have so-so illustrations…I feel like if the illustrations could have captured the time period or showcased some of Merian’s actual art or just had some more inspiring illustrations, pe...more
2 likes · like · see review
Apr 18, 2013
Fran Watson
added it
A beautifully illustrated children's art book about the nature illustrator, Maria Merian. This brief look at Merian's life highlights the Medieval scientific thought of her time ("spontaneous generation") just giving way to the enlightened thought of the Renaissance. Merian's precise observations and beautifully accurate drawings documented what we know as metamorphosis, and dispelled previously held folklore/withcraft beliefs.
Grade 1-2, Provides the characteristics of animals, and what they need. The book refers to the life cycles of animals.
Literature based because it is a story about how people use to believe insects were bad until a little girl catches a caterpillar and watches it turn into a beautiful butterfly.
This is a great book about the life cycles of some animals such as butterflies and frogs. Amazing illustrations are provided.
Literature based because it is a story about how people use to believe insects were bad until a little girl catches a caterpillar and watches it turn into a beautiful butterfly.
This is a great book about the life cycles of some animals such as butterflies and frogs. Amazing illustrations are provided.
I liked that this was a true story. I didn't know that people used to think that insects were evil. The pictures were beautiful and shiny so they looked like stickers. Very detailed pictures - definitely took advantage of color since it was a story about butterflies! The two page spread of just art is fantastic, too. Really interesting, well written story about a little known idea.
A beautiful story of metamorphosis set in a biographical and historical context. Maria observes the insects around her and records their changes in form by painting colorful pictures. Through her study she comes to the conclusion that insects and frogs are not evil as they were thought to be in her time. The illustration style is evocative of the historical period but doesn’t seem fully realized. The story gains a lot more value after reading the Historical Note at the very end so it might have...more
I enjoyed this book and the illustrations, which tried to capture the spirit of the times. I found a few things fairly jarring about the historical accuracy of the illustrations that took me away from purely enjoying the story. Glass jars were very expensive and pretty uncommon, so as a child the likelyhood of this girl having them and being allowed to use them for keeping bugs is unlikely. She probably kept them in wooded containers or pottery. The glass is easier to illustrate, but just seems...more
Grade 1-2, Characteristics and basic needs of animals, Life cylces of organism
-story of how people used to think that insects were evil, but a little girl catches a caterpillar adn watches it turn into a butterfly
-describes the process of how butterflies come to be
-also touches on tadpoles to frogs
-great pictures
-story of how people used to think that insects were evil, but a little girl catches a caterpillar adn watches it turn into a butterfly
-describes the process of how butterflies come to be
-also touches on tadpoles to frogs
-great pictures
This book is about the life of catapillers and how they turn into butterflies or summer birds. I think this book is great for K-4. Its a great book to use when talking about insects and their life cycles. I could use this in my classroom for a science day where we are talking about life cycles or insects.
Just beautiful: the true story of Maria Merian, who at the age of 13 realized that butterflies come from caterpillars, not mud, and were natural, not evil (as everyone believed in the 1600s, thanks to the ancient Greeks). She sketched and painted their life cycles. Gorgeous illustrations by Julie Paschkis.
something about this book didn't quite work for me. the prose seemed stilted. the illustrations were beautiful, if sometimes incongruent. as always, i appreciate authors bringing herstorical figures to a new audience. just not a book that appealed to me.
Grade: 2
Topic: life cycles
This is such a great book. Not only does it talk about the life cycle of a butterfly, but it also shows students that just because everyone is afraid or unsure of something, you do not have be.
Topic: life cycles
This is such a great book. Not only does it talk about the life cycle of a butterfly, but it also shows students that just because everyone is afraid or unsure of something, you do not have be.
Beautiful! The illustrations are stunning and inspirational to either budding naturalists or budding artists. My only issue is the lack of images of actual paintings of Maria Merian - perhaps back with the historical note.
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Margarita Engle is a Cuban-American poet, novelist, and journalist whose work has been published in many countries. She lives with her husband in northern California.
More about Margarita Engle...
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Mar 15, 2011 10:11am
Mar 15, 2011 10:34am