Joyce Sidman
The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science
Stealth Science
Why this book counts
- Life Science
- Biography / Memoir
- Mystery / Investigation
- Story / Adventure
Maria Merian's persistence as an artist and observer turns the butterfly life cycle into the unfolding achievement of a real person. Her paintings let readers see how close study of caterpillars, host plants, chrysalises, and adults helped change what people understood about metamorphosis.
The science inside
- Animals & Zoology
- Scientific Discovery & Careers
Your child will meet:
- Butterflies and moths undergo complete metamorphosis through egg, larva, pupa, and adult stages.
- A caterpillar's relationship with its host plant is part of understanding its development rather than decorative background.
- Repeated observation across time can reveal a life cycle that a single specimen cannot show.
- Scientific illustration can preserve details, relationships, and evidence for other people to examine.
Use it this way
Parent effort: Quick discussion
In this beautiful nonfiction biography, a Robert F. Sibert Medal winner, the Newbery Honor-winning author Joyce Sidman introduces readers to one of the first female entomologists and a woman who flouted convention in the pursuit of knowledge and her passion for insects.
One of the first naturalists to observe live insects directly, Maria Sibylla Merian was also one of the first to document the metamorphosis of the butterfly.
Richly illustrated throughout with full-color original paintings by Merian herself, The Grew Who Drew Butterflies will enthrall young scientists.
Bugs, of all kinds, were considered to be "born of mud" and to be "beasts of the devil." Why would anyone, let alone a girl, want to study and observe them? The Girl Who Drew Butterflies answers this question. Booklist Editor's Choice Chicago Public Library Best of the Year Kirkus Best Book of the Year Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book Junior Library Guild Selection New York Public Library Top 10 Best Books of the Year
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