Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly

by Alan Madison, Kevin Hawkes (Illustrator)

Overview

It's hard to be Velma, the littlest Gratch, entering the first grade. That's because everyone has marvelous memories of her two older sisters, who were practically perfect first graders. Poor Velma—people can barely remember her name. But all that changes on a class trip to the magnificent Butterfly Conservatory—a place neither of her sisters has ever been. When a monarch roosts on Velma's finger and won't budge for days . . . well, no one will forget Velma ever again. Acclaimed and bestselling illustrator Kevin Hawkes and author Alan Madison celebrate everything butterfly—from migration to metamorphosis. Watch as Velma Gratch metamorphosizes from a timid first grader into a confident young scientist!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780307978042
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	08/07/2012
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	455,063
Product dimensions:	8.94(w) x 11.74(h) x 0.14(d)
Lexile:	AD750L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

ALAN MADISON is the author of The Littlest Grape Stomper and Pecorino's First Concert, in addition to being a film and television writer.

KEVIN HAWKES is the illustrator of many well-loved books for young readers, including Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black, Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, Weslandia by Paul Fleischman, and My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman. He is also the author and illustrator of The Wicked Big Toddlah and its sequel The Wicked Big Toddlah Goes to New York. 

Editorial Reviews

At the center of Madison's (The Littlest Grape Stomper) picture book is first-grader Velma Gratch; despite her round eyeglasses and bushy red pigtails, she worries that she isn't as memorable as her well-known older siblings-until she discovers butterflies. "She adored the ones with colorful names: brown elfin, frosted flasher, sleepy orange. And the ones with funny names: comma, question mark, American snout." During a school trip to a butterfly conservatory, which Velma aptly calls a "can-serve-the-story" in a humorous if too-cute Junie B.-esque malapropism, the otherwise ordinary story veers abruptly into fantasy. A monarch perches on Velma's finger and won't let go (she attends ballet class with it on her finger and sleeps with her butterfly hand on a pillow), finally giving her the distinction she craves. Hawkes's (Library Lion) paintings ably convey the colorful differences between the types of butterflies. His work shines most brightly, perhaps, on his witty endpapers: the opening papers show caterpillars (including an "orange-tipped Gratch"); the papers at the end display butterflies (Velma is now a "Small Gratchis"), underscoring the character's own metamorphosis. Both adults and emerging conservationists should appreciate this leisurely story about finding one's bliss. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Publishers Weekly

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