Butterfly Count - Hardcover

Sneed B. Collard III is the author of numerous books for children about the natural world. They include "Animal Dads"; "The Forest in the Clouds", and IRA Teacher's Choice selection and NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children; and "Our Wet World", a Reading Rainbow selection and NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

Paul Kratter traveled to Illinois to do research for this book in tallgrass prairie sancturaries. The books he has illustrated include "Mountain Mists: A Story of the Virungas" and "Through Tsavo: A Story of an East African Savanna". He lives in Morage, California.

Ages 6-8. When Amy's great-great-grandmother, Nora Belle, farmed the prairie, the regal fritillary was her favorite butterfly. Once one of North America's largest and most widespread butterflies, the regal fritillary vanished with its plowed prairie habitat. Nora Belle now lies buried near her farm, which she gave over to prairie restoration in hopes that the regal fritillary would someday return. It is to this restored prairie that Amy and others come on the Fourth of July to participate in an annual butterfly count. In startlingly realistic detail, Kratter paints the prairie fauna sheltered by and flitting among the indigenous grasses and flowers. His watercolors also convey the welcome shade from the summer sun, where Amy rests and awakens to spy, near Nora Belle's grave, the long-awaited regal fritillary. The various butterflies depicted in the art are pictured again and described at book's end, creating a mini field guide for readers. Amy's age (she's pictured as an older child) extends this story beyond its picture-book format, making the book well suited to children who can read and enjoy the story on their own. Ellen Mandel
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