Great Migrations: Butterflies

National Geographic Readers: Level 3

by Laura Marsh

The monarch butterfly, one of the most seemingly delicate of all of nature’s animals, proves to be one of the toughest in this reader. Making the yearly trip from the Northern United States and Canada to the Oyamel forest of Mexico is no easy task, and it takes five generations of butterflies in order to do so. Battling cold temperatures and the threat of starvation, these beautiful insects complete an almost 3,000 mile journey over the course of two months, only to have to turn and around and head back home.

National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information. 

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Childrens, Animals, Reference

48 pages, Paperback

Published October 12, 2010

Reviews

[Yazir Paredes · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter loves this books. She loves butterflies and this books on Monarch butterflies covers a lot of info for a 5 years old. After seeing this book she is always hunting for butterflies every time we get out.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: This National Geographic text for kids is about the Great Migration that serval species of animals, including the Monarch Butterfly, take every year.
Evaluation: This text was a great selection of facts for students. This book was not boring just spouting off facts but was actually interesting to read. There were several “fun” facts included that would catch students’ attention.
Teaching Idea: Using this book during a science lesson over the life cycle of butterflies would be beneficial. One could also use this text as a part of a text set while teaching a unit over how different animals migrate throughout the year. You could also tie this into how there are different types of migration (human vs. animal) by pulling in different text about migration in the past.

[Teriney Keyser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura Marsh does a wonderful job describing the life of the Monarch Butterflies; the pages are extremely vibrant and easy to follow. The content in the book is perfect for a level three reader. The paragraphs are sweet and simple but are packed with detail information. For the bigger vocabulary, the wing word text feature is helpful for students to understand.
While the entire book is captivating, the best in my opinion is the end where Marsh adds
how we, the readers, can help protect for the traveling monarch butterflies. Along with the
wing words, readers and parents can find fun facts, usually in the form of a joke, and weird
but true facts. The glossary is very helpful when wanting to find the definition of one
of the bolded words. The table of contents and index are go to pages when wanting a
specific cycle of the monarch’s life span.
Overall, the great is full of facts that will keep the attention of any reader. Even those who aren’t interested in insects, like myself, I can ensure that the book will be entertaining for all!

[Chinook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative and well explained for kids. The jokes were a nice feature.

[Kennedy Stevenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an informational text about the growth and maturation of butterflies. It talks about the process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly and the migrations they make.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I liked it, but it was very sad when I found out they cut down all of those trees. (Deforestation) The butterflies didn't have anywhere to live. My favorite part was about the predators."

[Linden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best nonfiction book I've read about Monarch butterflies. The best fiction about them is Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope. That book has taught many children at our school to read with its appealing refrains and cadences.

But it is Great Migrations that explains what one student called the "for reals." One of the appeals is that it reads like a kid-friendly webpage, with sidebars, images, and small diversions within the main educational content.

For me, however, its importance lies in the complexities made understandable. Before this book, I didn't realize that there are two Monarch populations in the U.S., an eastern and a western. The book concentrates on the eastern, the one that makes the historic 2,800 mile trip south to its wintering hibernation in Mexico.

To see how the author first handles the spring migration north toward New England, turn to pages 18 and 19. There the illustration makes clear that it takes four generations to reach that destination. At the end of the summer, when what the book calls the super generation has been born, that new group begins the flight back to Mexico. This generation lives more than ten times longer that those that preceded it: six to nine months. They make the journey in about two months. And it is their eggs that hatch to become the first of the four generations to travel back north. (44 pages)

This is a Level 3 Reader, for students who read fluently, with a glossary, index and links to more information.

Highly recommended.

Five big shiny stars!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really liked this book. It's nice and neat and orderly. All of the illustrations are great and very informal of whats going on as well as, to show what things look like. The use of vibrant colors used in this book is good to. It's a very educational book for young children who want to learn more about nature and what it has to offer. It shows children a map and where the butterflies travel to. The book provides pictures and describes the cycle of a butterfly and how it forms. I also, like how towards the back of the book they give interesting facts about the butterflies. For young children who love and enjoy learning about nature I would definitely suggest this book.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have studied migration before, and used this book to begin specific interest in insects. This is one of many National Geographic Kids books that we have read, since the children love the real pictures. The genuine quality of the pictures help children concretely understand the difference between fiction and non-fiction; and based upon how often they return to these books on the shelf, it seems like they can not get enough of the real world! Thank you National Geographic!

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

What's good about it:
The amazing migration patterns of Monarchs are studied along with impressive photos. Some of the harm we are unintentionally causing the butterflies is discussed, along with a plea to lesson human impact upon the creatures.

What's not so good:
A discussion of the banding of butterflies is discussed, which may inspire kids to attempt to band fragile butterflies themselves, with disasterous results.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. Every page was colorful and had something that was appealing to the eye. This book included bold text which helps young readers know what words are important. This book goes in sequential order for students to easier understand.
I chose to pair this book with "Ten Little Caterpillars" by Bill Martin Jr. I think these two books can be paired together because they both describe the process of caterpillars growing into butterflies.

[Amy Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

The National Geographic Kids series books are a great resource for young readers. The photos in the book are beautiful and really add to the text. I also like that the information presented about Monarch butterflies is in short paragraphs on each page, which makes it an easy read. There is so much to look at on each page this book is captivating even for adults. I plan to add more of this series to my collection.

[Christie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of interesting facts about Monarch butterflies, particularly their life cycles. The close up and colorful pictures make this a great text to learn more about the life of butterflies, as well as what's happening to their habitat and what we can do to help save them from extinction. Glossary at the end, with terms and pronunciation key.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photographs accompany text.
Text also includes various butterfly jokes.
Book does include a glossary, although the glossary is not in alphabetical order.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

The caterpillar was so cute.