Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd ; Hard Cover, Fiction, Picture Book ; Extra Purchase

Moth & Butterfly

Moth & Butterfly, written by Dev Petty and illustrated by Ana Aranda is a cute friendship story. The two friends begin as caterpillars who have so much in common, they enjoy playing together, eating together, and dancing together. But, as in any lifecycle of a caterpillar, they go through their metamorphosis and when they emerge, they discover they are very different now! Out pops Butterfly and then out pops Moth! They have changed! Their wings look different, their colors are different, their antennae are different. They also notice that they have different behaviors – Moth darts, whereas Butterfly is graceful, Moth loves night and Butterfly loves the sunshine. They have grown up and their differences start to keep them apart. Despite these differences, Moth and Butterfly find they still do have a few activities (like dancing) in common.

I enjoyed this classic friendship tale where two best friends grow up and apart and have to find each other again. But, I think what I enjoyed most is that you also learn about some of the differences between moths and butterflies.

This book has great illustrations filled with movement and vibrant colors.

If you have a class studying butterflies in science this would be a great addition. It would also fit in with many SEL curricula when talking about overcoming differences and friendship.

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About Katy Beattie

Katy Beattie is the Teacher-Librarian at Garfield Elementary School (Olympia, WA), where she has been teaching for 15 years and been the Librarian for more than half that time. She has an Australian Labradoodle and two young boys (ages 6 and 9). Her favorite books are anything by Kate DiCamillo and Jason Reynolds, Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie, and The Woman Who Walked into Doors by Roddy Doyle. Her favorite things to teach are coding/robotics and Battle of the Books.