The Bug Girl: Maria Merian's Scientific Vision

by Sarah Glenn Marsh, Filippo Vanzo (Illustrator)

Overview

The amazing story of a curious girl who became a pioneer in the field of entomology and scientific illustration.

Maria Sibylla Merian was fascinated with insects. But when Maria was a girl in the mid-1600s, superstitions about bugs prevented most people from taking a close look. People thought bugs were evil—and anyone interested in such creatures was surely evil too. That didn't stop Maria. Filled with curiosity, she began to study and paint them. She even witnessed silkworms form cocoons and transform into moths—discovering metamorphosis! Painting and drawing as she studied, Maria pushed the boundaries of what girls were expected to do, eventually gaining recognition as one of the first entomologists and scientific illustrators. This gorgeously illustrated biography celebrates a fascinating female pioneer who broke boundaries in both the arts and sciences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807592571
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	02/01/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sarah Glenn Marsh writes young adult novels and children's picture books. When she's not writing, Sarah enjoys watercolor painting, ghost hunting, and pursuits of the nerd variety. She lives in Virginia.

Filippo Vanzo is a Stockholm-based, Italian-born freelance illustrator and cartographer. He illustrates children’s books, covers, and maps. He also creates nature illustrations, concept art, and storyboards for the entertainment industry.

Editorial Reviews

A Mighty Girl's 2019 Books of the Year

"The text smoothly incorporates biographical and historical information into a well-told story... A pleasing introduction to a notable woman, scientist, and illustrator."—Booklist


"A fresh and captivating offering for elementary science units on entomology."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

02/01/2019

Gr 1–3—In Frankfurt, Germany, in the 1650s, a young girl called Maria Merian explored her interest in insects, wandering the gardens observing bugs. Her passion was not shared by the town's people, who believed that insects were nothing more than evil shape-shifters created by "spontaneous generation." Nonetheless, Maria started collecting silkworms and their eggs, which she studied at home. Maria knew how to draw and paint watercolors as well, skills she learned from her stepfather. On her canvases, she documented her observations, sketching silkworms, larvae, mulberry leaves, and hatched silkworm eggs. The subject's childhood passion inspired her to document her findings in artwork books that brought her recognition among scientists, collectors, and royalty; she was also acknowledged as the first woman entomologist. Marsh shows how Merian encouraged girls to pursue their interests despite societal standards. Vanzo's illustrations include transformative depictions of nature based on digital images of Maria Merian Sibylla's hand-colored engravings that takes readers back to the 17th and early 18th century. The comfortably large black text is organized through the pages, facilitating a storytime activity in a classroom or library setting for school-aged children. An author's note offers engaging details of Maria Merian's life. VERDICT A fresh and captivating offering for elementary science units on entomology.—Kathia Ibacache, Simi Valley Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

2018-11-12

Young Maria Merian had a passion for butterflies and moths that led to a lifelong, convention-defining career of natural-history illustration.

When the young artist was growing up in 17th-century Germany, butterflies and moths were thought to arise through spontaneous generation and women interested in insects might be seen as witches. Still, Maria not only painted the insects she saw around her, she brought home silkworms and studied them, watching their metamorphosis and painting what she saw, including their favorite plants and flowers. Continuing to observe and paint from nature in her adult life, she also taught and published books of her illustrations, raised a family, and traveled as far as Suriname to explore the natural world. In contrast to Margarita Engle and Julie Paschkis' Summer Birds (2010), in which a first-person narrative captures Maria's childhood voice and joy in the natural world and the illustrations demonstrate the culture's changing approach to nature, Marsh and Vanzo present a more distant, staid story for young readers. Vanzo's illustrations, drawn with pencil and digitally colored, are modestly realistic, more so for the insects than humans (all white, including in Suriname). Sadly, the monarch butterflies that intrigue freckle-faced Maria in these images don't exist in Germany. Even the title is unfortunate: Butterflies and moths are not bugs. An author's note provides further information about this early naturalist. A few of the artist's original illustrations are included and sourced, but no sources are given for other information.

Let this one fly away. (Picture book/biography. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews