emersonernest's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful, informative, but a bit boring. I'd still buy it.
wordnerd153's review against another edition
3.0
This boldly illustrated picture book is a wonderful way to introduce the idea of life cycles to young readers. The story opens with a small purple-brown bean seed wedged into a crack that sprouts over time and ends up hosting a butterfly egg that will hatch into a caterpillar. Over time the caterpillar becomes a butterfly and the bean pods shrivel up, dropping new seeds into the ground, which will eventually grow up to host new butterfly eggs. Mixed media close-up illustrations grab the reader's attention and elevate the text. The misstep is having sentences in the first few pages rhyme and then not following through with that choice to the end of the story. Back matter includes instructions for growing a bean plant, as well as an index.
ellalouise99's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic story about life cycles of caterpillars and plants. This would be a great book to use in science in KS1. The pages are simple and clear making it easy to follow and only containing the necessary information. There are lots of engaging pictures which the text is displayed around. I think non-fiction storybooks like this one are more engaging and exciting for younger children than traditional non-fiction books which do not have the story element. On the last page, there are instructions as to how children can grow their own beans. This could be done as part of a science project to examine the variables mentioned throughout the book such as sunlight and water.
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
3.0
A simple and direct way to teach science concepts.
shayemiller's review against another edition
4.0
When I taught the younger grades in elementary school, we enjoyed units on life cycles — both for plants and insects. And this book is a perfect combination featuring a plant and a butterfly cycling through life. I liked the color combination of mostly greens/blues with orange/reds. And at the very end, there’s a section on how to grow your own bean plant. I’m sure looking forward to seeing the beautiful butterflies, this year, and this book will be an excellent share for that experience! The illustrations were done in mixed media.
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
mldavisreads's review
4.0
Childrens non-fiction picture book. Simple text illustrates a bean being planted, growing leaves, flowers, and beans, and producing seeds again. Alongside the bean's life cycle we see the caterpillar's life cycle-- an egg on the bean leaf, a caterpillar, a chrysalis, then a butterfly that lays an egg. It's a good read-aloud book because it is narrative text and has easy places to pause for questions (What is the little white dot? Where did it come from? and children can look through the picture to find the butterfly that laid the egg).
The illustrations are colorful and the text is large and easy on the eyes. Background matter includes directions for growing a bean plant and an index.
The illustrations are colorful and the text is large and easy on the eyes. Background matter includes directions for growing a bean plant and an index.
iggi_dee's review
2.0
Another one where the illustrations really elevate some not-great words, sometimes it rhymes, sometimes it kind of rhymes, other times it really doesn't rhyme at all just for no apparent reason? Makes it harder to get to the science concepts. There are better books that teach the butterfly life-cycle and better books that teach plant life-cycles.
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