Title: Velma Gratch & the Way Cool Butterfly
Author: Alan Madison
From GoodReads, "IT'S HARD TO BE VELMA entering first grade. That's because everyone has marvelous memories of her two older sisters, who were practically perfect first graders, and no one even notices Velma. But all that changes on a class trip to the butterfly conservatory, a place neither of her sisters has been. When a monarch roosts on Velma's finger and won't budge for days - no one will ever forget it . . . or her!
Kids will enjoy reading about everything butterflies, from migration to metamorphosis, as they follow Velma's own transformation."
Any kid that has ever been in the shadow of an older sibling will be able to identify with Velma Gratch. The youngest of three girls, Velma tries to crawl out from behind the shadow of her older sisters. After unsuccessfully trying several ideas, she comes into her own due to her love of science. The wonderfully humorous illustrations in this terrific book add to the appeal. My students especially liked the illustration with Velma peering into the jar. After reading this story, the students were curious as to what some of the butterflies mentioned in the book looked like, so we spent some time looking at them. This book lends itself well to many scientific experiments and explanations. An awesome story with a subtle lesson always gets me a "flutter".
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