Kaleidoscope of Hope: How Butterfly Life Cycles Reflect Our World

Kaleidoscopes provide a textual and visual through line for this awe-inspiring scientific tribute to butterflies from Paul, teaming up with Hari and Deepti. Per a note, content draws on the author’s firsthand experience raising the insects to take readers through the life-cycle stages, from egg to larvae to caterpillar to chrysalis and beyond. Each phase is introduced in rhyming lines (“That thriller/ caterpillar?/ Hear them munch,/ crunch, munch”) accompanied by three-dimensional renderings. Extended prose offers further detail in themed interstitials accompanied by page-filling, kaleidoscopic patterns of varied species and stages. (In one, multicolored caterpillars emerge from eggs; in another, wings, legs, and antennae spiral outward.) Employing paper and paper clay, glue, watercolor, and other materials, the artists’ artwork—first sculpted, then photographed—encourages close observation. It’s a truly unforgettable look at how butterfly life cycles spiral outward. Human figures are depicted with various skin tones. Creators’ notes and an activity conclude. Ages 4–8. (May)