Preschool education is advanced in Singapore these days, for my son can recite to me the 4 stages of a butterfly. Still, as an ex-Science teacher, I sighed while reading this book, for I realised just how little space we have in our time with the students (used to be 2 hours per week; now, they have 2.5 hours) to really dive into anything worthwhile. I remember spending half the time drumming in the meaning of harmful pests and crops into their skulls. By the time I got that settled, the bell would ring, an ominous sign of my inability to teach to quench the thirst for knowledge.
This book is hence a helpful complement to Science classroom lessons because it explores the intricacies of a butterfly’s life. Nothing is too trivial. (butterflies have nothing to do with butter!) Questions that curious children inevitably ask are anticipated and responded to. (The mummy butterfly uses a sticky liquid to make sure her eggs don’t fall off from her leaf. The moth has a fatter body than the butterfly.) The process of moulting is clearly explained, with illustrations to boot. I got to learn some fun facts as well: never knew that jewellery can be made from butterflies’ wings. A caterpillar breathe through tiny holes in the sides of its body
I enjoyed the description of poisonous monarch butterflies and how they only lay eggs on milkweed plants and how the viceroy and queen butterflies benefit from looking similar to monarch butterflies. This may be everyday knowledge to the Americans, but this is head knowledge to me. Reading all this in the form of a story does make these dry hard facts come alive.
Now that I have learnt the names of various butterflies from the book, I am more inclined to take my son on a trip to the Butterfly Garden at Changi Airport to broaden his knowledge of butterflies (beyond egg-larvae-pupa-adult).
Thanks, @Rothbardian_fanatic, for educating me about monarch butterflies