Butterfly Book Pair

I love to pair a nonfiction and fiction book together for book studies and exploration with kids. When children begin to learn real life facts about their world, I have found the level of engagement to sky rocket.


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The two books I have chosen today are perfect together.

Who doesn't love Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar?

If the beautiful illustrations don't instantly catch your eye, then the simplicity of the text surely must. I think kids can relate to the concept of eating maybe a little more than they should have and the pattern of the days of the week are predictable. Older children will begin to guess which day is coming next before the page is even turned. The suspenseful waiting to see if you are correct is enough to keep the children engaged until the last line of text is read.

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Are You a Butterfly is a wonderful twist on nonfiction. The life cycle is presented in a fun conversational tone. (Just an Example- not actual text: Are you a butterfly? If your mother lays an egg on a leaf, then you definitely could be a butterfly.) The conclusion of the book and all books in this series always ends with ... If you look like this or this or this, then you are a human child.

I absolutely adore both of these books.

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The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle


Suggested Activities

1.Retelling Using a Felt Board or Puppets: DLTK

2.Sequence the Story: DLTK- Place the picture cards in order and tell what happened in the story.

3.Retelling Hat: To turn the retelling pictures into a hat, staple several strips of 3-4" wide construction paper together. Measure your child's head to ensure it will fit. Lay the long strip flat and allow your child to glue the pictures in order onto the strip. Allow glue to dry and staple the strip to fit your child's head. Children absolutely love to wear these.

4.Caterpillar Kabobs: Cut small chunks of the various foods that were in the story. Have your child push them onto a bamboo skewer in the correct order. Be sure that the child counts out the correct number of each food item.

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Are You A Butterfly? by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries

1.Random Butterfly Craft Ideas: DLTK

2.Random Caterpillar Craft Ideas: DLTK

3.Colorful Name Caterpillars: Cut several circles out of construction paper. Have your child use a black marker to draw a face onto one of the circles. Glue pipe cleaners or skinny rectangles of construction paper to the "head" of the caterpillar as antenna. Have your child write one letter of his or her name on each circle. Use a pencil and have your child trace the letters with a marker if needed. After each letter has been written, allow your child to practice assembling the letters in order to spell his/her name. You can either place the circles in a baggie for your child to use again. OR Have your child glue the circles in order over lapping slightly to have a caterpillar friend to play with.

4.Caterpillar Counting: Follow the above directions except put numbers on the circles. Depending on the age of the child you could even consider skip counting.