THE BUTTERFLY GARDEN

This debut lift-the-flap book by printmaker Weston follows the life cycle of a monarch butterfly with detailed black-and-white illustrations and flaps that reveal flashes of brilliant orange, yellow, purple, and green.

The stunning black-and-white images are precise and meticulous, with a woodcut feel, and the brightly colored undersides of the flaps bring the liveliness of the outdoors into the book. Information about the butterfly’s metamorphosis is conveyed more through flashes of color under the flaps than in the spare poetic text, limited to the deliberate choice of a couple of words per page (“An egg / a feast // a change / a stretch”). Each page features a number of flaps, showing the butterfly in its various stages of metamorphosis, migration, and hibernation. A variety of plants and their flowers that serve as hosts for the monarchs and food for their caterpillars as well as a place for their hibernation are shown, but no additional information is included. Young toddlers may have difficulty in finding and manipulating the flaps at first, but they will be awed by what they reveal.

Best for one-on-one reading and exploration with conversations, this tall and artistic board book brings together mystery, surprise, and wonder for children and adults alike.