by Matthew Oates
New Holland
ISBN 978-1-84773-050-3
£4.99
Click here to order

From the Publisher

All About Butterflies is the perfect children's guide to the fascinating world of butterflies. Leading butterfly specialist Matthew Oates provides a clear and concise guide to over 56 species of British and European butterfly, aimed at 8-12 year olds. Features an introduction explaining definitions, butterfly life cycles, key facts and info about butterflies, and all you need to know to become a butterfly expert. Beautiful artworks bring alive the amazing and colourful world of butterflies. Butterflies are grouped by family to help identification. Each entry gives essential info on when and where to look for the species, how to identify it, and what its caterpillar eats, as well as amazing and little known facts about it. Includes "Difficult words" section to explain scientific terms.

A Review by Lynn Fomison, 30th October 2008

About the Author

Matthew Oates works for the National Trust. His expertise and knowledge of butterflies has been featured on TV and on the radio and Matthew has written extensively about butterflies and other aspects of nature conservation.

At the 2007 AGM of Butterfly Conservation he was been awarded a prestigious Marsh Lepidoptera Award for Lifetime Achievement, recognising his position as one of the country's leading lepidopterists.

As a father of four and almost a lifelong interest in butterflies one would expect this book to be just the thing to direct children's interest to butterflies. And it does not disappoint. Costing just £4.99 it is an ideal small present for a child this Christmas.

About the Book

The book is described as ideal for 8-12 year olds but its bright colourful illustrations of butterflies make it an attractive book for younger children. Even toddlers can learn the names of butterflies with a bit of help from an adult reading out the names and playing identification games.

About 56 species of British and European butterflies are described. Each one of those pages carries a "Did you know" type question and its fascinating answer, making it an interesting read for adults too. For instance do you know which butterflies were introduced from Europe to the United States and have since become very common there? You will need to read the book to find out!

The early pages of the book describe the main families of butterflies and then the amazing life of a butterfly from egg to adult, highlighting the difficulties that life stages face. "10 things you need to know about butterflies" are fundamental principles known by all keen butterfly watchers.

Then come eight tips on how to identify butterflies with the important recognition "It takes years to learn how to tell butterflies apart". Inspiration to explore the wonderful world of butterflies is provided by way of descriptions of exotic species like Two-tailed Pasha, the largest European butterfly at 75mm, and described as being more difficult to see than a Purple Emperor. The size of all species is given wing tip to wing tip. And I guess if one wanted to make one criticism of the book it is that the illustrations are not life size.

With the opening paragraph suggesting "Butterflies are a part of our summer like visits to the seaside" it would be great if this book encouraged children to think as much about butterflies on sunny days as ice cream!