Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the MeadowBy Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by Beth Krommes
Publisher Houghton Mifflin Company
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author creatively and accurately describes scenes of life in a meadow throughout a typical day with poetic riddles. The accompanying illustrations are grand and lush and offer clues to the riddle. The art is poster-worthy in and of itself.
Following each pair of poetic riddles the answer is provided on the next page. She explains how the wildlife in the meadow live and interact with the other creatures and the land. Through this whimsical presentation youngsters are introduced to basic ecological concepts like abiotic-biotic interactions, predator-prey relationships, insect-plant interaction, even ecological succession, but she does so with such ease and simplicity. It is perfect read-a-long book for young ones or read-on-my-own book for young readers. The sentences are simple and descriptive and you can take one section at a time if you like.
The I LOVE this book, it actually features voles, meadow voles to be in fact. And you all know about my affinity for voles. Plus, I've studied meadow voles, so this is extra special to me. Voles never get their due in stories or adorable creature media. When will they make a vole Beanie Baby? I’m waiting. In the meantime, I highly recommend this adorable and informative Poem Book to you and your family and students.