Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly

by Alan Madison, Kevin Hawkes (Illustrator)

Overview

This School Library Journal Best Book of the Year celebrates everything butterfly, from migration to metamorphosis! Kids will love reading about Velma's own transformation from a timid first grader into a confident scientist.

It's hard to be Velma entering first grade. That's because everyone has marvelous memories of her two older sisters, who were practically perfect first graders, and no one even notices Velma. But all that changes on a class trip to the butterfly conservatory, a place neither of her sisters has been. When a monarch roosts on Velma's finger and won't budge for days—no one will ever forget it . . . or her! 

Here's the perfect addition to any science curriculum. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307560964
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	09/01/2010
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Lexile:	AD750L (what's this?)
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Alan Madison is the author of some very funny books for children, including The Littlest Grape Stomper, and Pecorino Plays Ball. He lives in New York City.

 

Kevin Hawkes has illustrated the New York Times bestselling Library Lion and My Little Sister Ate One Hare. He lives in Gorham, Maine.

Editorial Reviews

First-time first-grader Velma Gratch finds that extricating herself from the grandiose shadows of her older sisters is a daunting task. Frieda and Fiona were beloved of every teacher that Velma now has, and even when she does get some attention it tends to be of the negative variety. It's only when her class begins a unit on butterflies that Velma really begins to come into her own. Science is an area that neither of her sisters ever gave much thought to, and a class trip to the local butterfly conservatory is heaven to Velma. Unexpectedly, while she's there, a single monarch lands on her finger, refusing to let go. The solution to this predicament happily gives both girl and butterfly exactly what they need. Madison's tale of a child finding a way to distinguish herself works in a variety of fun butterfly facts. Hawkes deftly replicates the wingspan of a monarch butterfly in Velma's thick ponytails, giving the general impression of a girl emerging from her old self into her new. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews