The Butterfly Alphabet

Rating:
Summary: Much more than an alphabet book; truly for butterfly lovers
Review: I first thought this book was an alphabet book for young children, such as to help teach them the alphabet. This is more like a book that would be kept on a coffee table by an adult that adores butterflies. I still love it despite my misconception!

This is an amazing work. The author is actually a nature photographer who accidentially noticed that some patterns on butterfly's wings are shaped like letters of the English alphabet while looking at the wings under a microscope. He then took very close photographs of the "letters". He then went around the world hoping to find each of the 26 letters in our alphabet; this journey took 25 years. Now that is a labor of love!

The end result is this: on the left side of the page is a full color photo of the entire butterfly. One sentence describing butterflies with one of the words beginning with that letter of the alphabet is written in very poetic language that would be most appreciated by adults or anyone who enjoys poetry. Note that the featured letter is written in capital only and in script style so this is of no use to preschoolers who need to see both capital and lower case letters in PRINT. The name of the butterfly is then given. On the right side of the page is a huge photograph of the close up that shows the pattern on the wings that looks just like the featured letter of the alphabet.

Incredible! Interesting!

This would be of interest to anyone who is interested in butterflies. Possibly a good tool to show when introducing microscopes and what they can reveal and also when teaching about butterflies and science/nature.

Rating:
Summary: Butterflies!
Review: This is a beautiful work for anyone who loves butterflies. I often pick it up and browse its pages, admiring the beauty in nature. It can be read and reread numerous times. The photographs are wonderful, and the idea is ingenious!