Mark Russell, Butterflies Up Close, Wild Dog Books, June 2025, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781742037097
My observation is that kids love non-fiction books that are age appropriate, well-planned out, and have lots of images. Butterflies Up Close fits the bill.
This picture book introduces children to butterflies as a species. Readers will learn about the life cycle of a butterflies (which features in the Year 3 and 4 science curriculum in my state), reproduction, parts of the body, predators and more. One informative page identifies the differences between butterflies and their close cousins, moths.
Published by a smaller publishing company, this book does lack polish when it comes to text lay out. However, I really don’t think that kids won’t notice. The bright and colourful photographic images are a huge draw card. Kids get close-up views of this tiny, usually fast-moving insect. I’ll especially mention the ultra-close-up of the wings, and the one depicting an example of camouflage.
The language feels like some of the non-fiction take-home readers that my kids have used in years 2 and 3. Which suggests that this would be an ideal addition to a school’s non-fiction collection for kids and educators to use when they study life cycles, as many kids will be able to access the information themselves. For the trickier words, there is also a glossary.
Teaching notes are available at the publisher’s website.
Reviewed by Cherie Bell
