From Caterpillar to Butterfly (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1)

Book Description

A caterpillar comes to school in a jar. The class watches the caterpillar each day as it grows and changes. Soon, it disappears into a hard shell called a chrysalis. Then the chrysalis breaks, and a beautiful butterfly flies out of the jar! This is a perfect beginner's guide to the mystery of metamorphosis.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1997 (NSTA/CBC)

Customer Reviews:

Great Informational Book for Children.......2007-09-14

This book is a great way to introduce children to the metamorphosis of a caterpillar. It contains many great facts about caterpillars and butterflies.

4-year-old loves this book.......2007-08-10

My daughter has been raising two monarch butterfly caterpillars, which are now in the chrysalis stage. We bought this book to help her to understand what is going on, and she not only enjoys the book but has also learned a great deal. The book is very much at her level, but contains quite a lot of information. The drawings are also very appealing. Based upon our experience of this book, I intend to purchase more titles from this series.

Transforming Youth.......2007-03-02

Excellent account of the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly. It's a great gift for children and butterfly loving adults alike.

Educational and Fun.......2005-07-20

My 3 year old daughter loves it. It explains the process at a level she can understand. Great when used with the Butterfly Garden.

The Perfect Butterfly Book for Preschool-Third Grade.......2003-10-22

I am the director of a lower school (pre-k-2nd) and we have used this book for years. It is the perfect way to introduce children to the wonderful world of metamorphosis. And if you can also actually get the Painted Lady Butterflies and "grow" them in your class, it is an invaluable experience. We have our children keep journals and then buy them each a copy of this great book (it's cheap in paperback) and they get to keep the experience forever. One correction to another review: painted ladies and all butterflies do spin chrysalids, not cocoons. They look similar, but the chrysalis usually has little specks of gold in it, which is where the name comes from. Yes I am a huge fan of this book--and a huge fan of butterflies. This author also has a lovely book about honeybees, called Honeybees.

Average customer rating:

A solid text
Good text for advanced students
Illinois Physiology Class Recommends Chapman's Text
AN ESSENTIAL BOOK !!!!!!!!!

The Insects: Structure and Function
R. F. Chapman
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521578906

Book Description

The Insects takes a detailed look at how insects function as animals. This textbook brings together basic anatomy and physiology and relates them to behavior. Coverage emphasizes the roles of different functional systems in the context of the whole organism using studies of many different species as examples. Unlike other texts, The Insects does not dwell on classification, opting instead to take an in-depth look at physiology, providing any biologist with a better basic understanding of how insects work. A long-awaited update of a well established standard text and respected reference work for students and researchers in zoology, entomology and physiology, this fourth edition has been rewritten throughout, while retaining the successful structure of the earlier editions. Illustrations have been augmented with electron micrographs, and expanded reference sections will make this volume a valuable addition to all biologists' bookshelves.

Customer Reviews:

A solid text.......2001-07-10

This is a solid text on the structure and physiology of insects. It has been used in two of my graduate level entomology classes, and none of the instructors have said "I wish Chapman had done ... differently".

Good text for advanced students.......2000-05-04

Chapman's book is a comprehensive and well-written entomology text. Not only does he cover all the basic topics in entomology, he does so in depth. This text may be too detailed and overwhelming for begining entomology students but is great for more advanced students. The one problem I have with this book is that Chapman often uses jargon without defining or explaining it, leaving the reader to look it up or remain confused.

Illinois Physiology Class Recommends Chapman's Text.......2000-05-01

The following comments were written by graduate and undergraduate members of an advanced class in insect physiology taught Spring Semester 2000.

Chapman's book is interesting and covers a variety of topics. It is interesting for learning about how much insects differ between orders. Chapman gives many examples of different phenomena in insects. As a student, though, all the examples and different phenomena make studying from the book difficult and overwhelming. It is useful as a reference, a book to read to clarify topics discussed in lecture. But it is very specific with the examples.

Chapman's textbook is comprehensive. It covers all aspects of insect physiology. It has full and updated literature citations for each chapter, which is very helpful for further reading. The language is simple and precise. But it is a little bit conservative and has slight coverage of some hot topics. The coverage favors insect structure and morphology.

For me as a student the Chapman text was very helpful, because it is clearly structured and it covers nearly all important fields of insect physiology and structure. The new edition is very up-to-date and gives good examples from recent investigations. It is a bit too focused on research conducted in the US, but this probably reflects the fact that most of the important research is conducted there. The illustrations are very clear and helpful.

I used this textbook in an advanced insect physiology class. To be perfectly honest, this book was a minor part of the class for me. I skimmed through it, used it for references, and as a sort of entomology handbook. From my perspective, it was a very complete source of information. At times it was a bit heavy on detail, but the information I needed was all there and clearly stated.

This book is not one that is useful to read from front to back. It is an excellent reference book that should be owned by all entomologists. Three or more specific examples are given for each topic instead of a generic example for all insects. This is useful because it gives you the range of known physiology of insects that can be compared to the reader's "insect of choice."

Chapman gives all the details an entomologist needs to know about insects. It may be a bit confusing due to the vast number of insects, but it is a good resource to own and keep. Chapman is very thorough.

One of the strengths of Chapman's new edition of Insects, Structure and Function is the wealth of examples. Every section of the book has examples from just about all of the orders of insects, although grasshoppers seem to rule disproportionately. A weakness with all of these wonderful examples is the cumbersome way Chapman places a list of them at the beginning of a section. He intends them to be as authoritative fleet of representatives who give some scale and scope to the subject being presented. They unfortunately end up as a heavy flotilla that diverts the reader's attention from the information sought. There are places in the book where subjects that are usually treated together or that work as a whole system are poorly integrated. Digestion and nutrition are so separately treated (they are in different chapters) that the reader finds herself having to cross reference from section to section to make cogent sense of what nutrients have to do with digestion. Strangely, when Chapman presents the great variety of insect form and function one has a sense of cacophony. Instead of giving us a unity, or even the illusion of unity, of how form and function interact we are presented with vignettes of research. But these vignettes do not provide us with the pretty and easy to get to views that we find on the Internet. We find ourselves lost somewhere in a tome that is more intent on directing our attention to variation than to presenting us with direct descriptions. But then again, how do you argue with the only author in English who has been brave enough to try to make a synthetic analysis of the most diverse group of animals on earth?

AN ESSENTIAL BOOK !!!!!!!!!.......1999-02-05

If you have Wiggleswort's Insect Physilology, Borror's Introduction to Entonology and Chapman's Insects Structure and Function, you have the best basic Entomology sources. Yes, is a little expensive but, It is not the life expensive too?. Buy it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dragonfly Genera of the New World: An Illustrated and Annotated Key to the Anisoptera

Average customer rating:

Excellent book!

Dragonfly Genera of the New World: An Illustrated and Annotated Key to the Anisoptera
Rosser W. Garrison , Natalia von Ellenrieder , and Jerry A. Louton
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0801884462

Book Description

Dragonfly Genera of the New World is a beautifully illustrated and comprehensive guide to the taxonomy and ecology of dragonflies in North, Middle, and South America. A reference of the highest quality, this book reveals the striking beauty and complexity of this diverse order.

Although Odonata -- dragonflies and damselflies -- are among the most studied groups of insects, until now there has been no reliable means to identify the New World genera of either group. This volume provides fully illustrated and up-to-date keys for all dragonfly genera with descriptive text for each genus, accompanied by distribution maps and 1,595 diagnostic illustrations, including wing patterns and characteristics of the genitalia.

For entomologists, limnologists, and ecologists, Dragonfly Genera of the New World is an indispensable resource for field identification and laboratory research.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book!.......2007-06-14

I am a professional entomologist and dragonfly enthusaist and bought this book after I got an advertisement for it in the mail. I love this book! While there are other books on North American dragonflies (such as Needham, Westfall, and May's Dragonflies of North America) that help identify North American specimens to species, there hasn't ever been a book that allows Central and South American dragonfly lovers and scientists to do the same. This book goes a long way toward filling the gap with keys to all of the genera of the New World dragonflies. It is filled with great drawings illustrating the key structural characteristics listed in the keys and contains several full color photographic images. It is organized well and beautifully laid out. I believe this book will prove invaluable to scientists studying Central and South American dragonflies. It is a great contribution to the odonate literature - the authors should be proud of themselves for creating such a masterpiece.

Average customer rating:

a wonderful find...

Are you a Grasshopper? (Backyard Books)
Judy Allen
Manufacturer: Kingfisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0753458063

Book Description

Did you know that a grasshopper makes its distinctive sound by rubbing its bristly hind legs together? Amazing discoveries abound in this intriguing tale of a day in the life of a grasshopper.

Customer Reviews:

a wonderful find..........2002-06-12

What a great book! My 2 year old was going through a fear of insects phase and this book helped tremendously. Not only did it educate her on the life cycle of the grasshopper, it did so without talking down to her. Now, she actually looks forward to going outside to "visit all her bugs".

Average customer rating:

Great for the budding naturalist
Food for the Imagination

Are you a Butterfly? (Backyard Books)
Judy Allen
Manufacturer: Kingfisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0753456087

Book Description

Caterpillar, chrysalis, butterflyfollow the metamorphosis of this familiar backyard creature as it evolves into a delicate flying insect.

Customer Reviews:

Great for the budding naturalist.......2007-01-18

Another winner from Kingfisher Publications!I just bought this book for my 2 year old daughter and we love it! the pictures are beautiful. The text is well thought out- it is engaging and informative but still will not overwhelm a toddler. I am going to get the rest of the books in this series in hopes that they are all as good.

Food for the Imagination.......2002-04-20

Written as if the author is speaking directly to the reader, this wonderful book draws the reader into the world of the butterfly. It does a very appropriate job of explaining the life cycle of the butterfly in terms a preschooler can understand. The illustrations are also quite nice, not too detailed or flowery, not too plain. They complement the simple text very well. Especially nice are the ones near the end of the book of the little girl.

However, there are many nice books for preschoolers about butterflies. This particular book's special quality is in the way it invites the reader to imagine what it's like to be a butterfly. My preschoolers greatly enjoy "acting out" the book, starting as a caterpillar eating it's way out of an egg. The text is perfect for a simple preschooler "play". It gives them a creative way to move and physically explore what they've learned.

The ending to the book is very nice, too. Rather than just stopping once the caterpillar turns into a butterfly, or after explaining the common activities of butterflies, the book draws the reader back to reality. The reader doesn't look like a butterfly; the reader looks like, and is, a human child. The book briefly contrasts the differences between the butterfly and the human, listing good things about being a human.

Book Description

Spiders are wonderful creatures. Their varied and complex range of behavior and highly developed sensory systems are excellently adapted to the environmental conditions - as is proven by their evolutionary success. Over 400 million years, spiders have developed their sensory organs to a fascinating technical perfection and complexity.
In his intriguing book, Professor Friedrich G. Barth puts this technical perfection into the context of "biology", in which the interaction between environment and sensory organs and the selectivity of the senses as a link between environment and behavior play a major role.

Average customer rating:

A much needed work

Harvestmen: The Biology of Opiliones

Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0674023439

Book Description

This is the first comprehensive treatment of a major order of arachnids featuring more than 6,000 species worldwide, familiar in North America as daddy-longlegs but known scientifically as the Opiliones, or harvestmen. The 25 authors provide a much-needed synthesis of what is currently known about these relatives of spiders, focusing on basic conceptual issues in systematics and evolutionary ecology, making comparisons with other well-studied arachnid groups, such as spiders and scorpions. Broad in scope, the volume is aimed at raising relevant questions from a diversity of fields, indicating areas in which additional research is needed. The authors focus on both the unique attributes of harvestmen biology, as well as on biological studies conducted with harvestmen species that contribute to the understanding of behavior and evolutionary biology in general. By providing a broad taxonomic and ecological background for understanding this major arachnid group, the book should give field biologists worldwide the means to identify specimens and provide an invaluable reference for understanding harvestmen diversity and biology.

Customer Reviews:

A much needed work .......2007-09-18

A remarkable, informative and insightful read into a myriad number of biological aspects regarding this often overlooked group (Opiliones). This important work will become the standard reference on Opiliones for years to come. A must read and must have for any arachnological reference collection.

A New General Catalogue of the Ants of the World

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A New General Catalogue of the Ants of the World
Barry Bolton
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 067461514X

Book Description

"A name is forever, or at least as long as taxonomy continues," Barry Bolton writes, and here are all the names, antique and modern, of all the ants that are or ever were--from the arctic to the tropical, the fossilized to the living, the mislabeled to the newly christened members of the family Formicidae. For every name that has ever been applied to ants, the book supplies a history and an account of current usage, together with a fully documented indication of the present-day classification. Its comprehensive bibliography provides references to original description, synonymy, homonymy, changes in rank, status, and availability, and alterations in generic status.

Organized by family group, genus group, and species group, this meticulously detailed but easily used volume is the ultimate resource for myrmecology. Along with Bolton's Identification Guide to the Ant Genera of the World, it will be the essential reference for anyone, expert or amateur, with an interest in ants.

Average customer rating:

Ladybug non-fiction
Good Book for Little Ones
Short and Sweet, A Pleasure to Read!
Outstanding information on Ladybug Metamorphosis
A reader-friendly book packed with fun and content

Are you a Ladybug? (Backyard Books)
Judy Allen
Manufacturer: Kingfisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0753456036

Book Description

Beginning with its title question, "Are you a ladybug?," this accessible book is perfect for reading aloud and tells young readers how they would experience life if they were a ladybug.

Customer Reviews:

Ladybug non-fiction.......2007-07-07

FINALLY! A book about ladybugs that is factual and well written. Lovely illustrations, also. Great subject matter.

Good Book for Little Ones.......2007-05-18

I used this book in my kindergarten classroom, and it really helped them understand how ladybugs grow. The illustrations and text are very simple and easy to follow. The kids enjoyed learning the song "Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away" after hearing parts of it in the story.

Short and Sweet, A Pleasure to Read!.......2007-01-17

This is a cute, easy to understand and very short guide to information about ladybugs for young children. Each two page spread is wonderfully illustrated (watercolor and pencil, a mellow, natural look) with a few short sentences about the lifecycle of the ladybug from the "mom" laying eggs, through the several metamorphosis that the young larvae go through...acknowledging that young ladybugs look nothing like adults, which is excellent because this entire process can be difficult to explain to young children without them seeing it...and in Are You a Ladybug, it's all drawn out nicely and it's very easy to understand!

Are you a Ladybug presents the physical characteristics and behavior of ladybugs as ell as their diet, habitat and also discusses how animals and birds don't eat them because they taste bad...no reason is given and it's never discussed if they have any natural predators, we were left to find out this information on our own, so that was slightly disappointing.

What's so appealing about Are You a Ladybug is that because of the way it's written, young readers (or listeners, if you use these as read-alouds) are put front and center, they are put in the position of imagining what is going on from hatching and eating their egg, to molting, eating lots and lots of aphids, and then growing their hard shell. This book really engages young minds in a way that is both accurate (scientifically presented) and fun (pretend play/imaginative), with just the right amount of humor to keep it from getting bogged down in facts. I give it four stars, it would have gotten five, but there is no glossary and the author does not define what an aphid is...though this did provide us with an opportunity to go to their picture dictionary and allow them to look it up and discuss it as an additional activity! Great for ages 4-8, with 4-6 probably being the ideal age range, what a fun way to "gear up" for spring, when animals and insects of all kinds will be coming out in force. With this book, we've given our kids a head start on what to look for this spring and they are looking forward to it.

Outstanding information on Ladybug Metamorphosis.......2005-04-28

I was thrilled when I found this book! It is so difficult to teach children that metamorphosis doesn't just mean when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly - that it happens to all insects. Observing the metamorphosis of more than one animal is the key. This book is simply splendid alongside the Ladybug Land product from Highlights.com where you purchase a ladybug habitat and larvae and observe the process for yourself. I agree with all the enthusiastic reviews below and rate this book * highly recommended * in terms of accessible fun reading & valuable scientific content.

A reader-friendly book packed with fun and content.......2002-09-03

This book has it all--engaging, not too complicated text, GREAT illustrations and a lots of good science content. I have a huge collection of pre-school, early elem. books on insects, but none of them cover the type of metamorphosis that the lady beetle goes through, with the larvae looking totally different than the adult, and the pupae looking . . . well not like a butterfly cocoon, that's for sure, just a spotted lump! I was conducting a class for middle school teachers and we found a lady beetle pupa on a leaf and I thought in might be a gall. Luckily my book order for the early elementary class came in and I noticed the picture in the "Are You a Ladybug" book that explained what we had found. That's a pretty good endorsement for a pre-school book, that it can teach a middle school science class new information! Also, this book is very usefull to teach about how insect predators help control pest populations, since the beetles in the book eat aphids and more aphids. Again, this type of information is not often found in pre-school level books. I bought the grasshopper book too, and I like these books so much I am ordering the whole series!

Bugs Are Insects (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)

Average customer rating:

Perfect for the Bug Lover
A must-have for elementary science teachers
But Ladybugs are beetles
I wish I could give this book 4.5 stars...
Very pleased with this series

Bugs Are Insects (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1)
Anne Rockwell
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0064452034
Release Date: 2001-05-08

Book Description

Is a ladybug really a bug?
Is a honeybee an insect?
How about a spider?
How do you know?

Find out how you can tell if a beautiful butterfly or a crawling centipede is actually an insect or something else. Discover a hidden world of tiny creatures building their homes, stalking their prey, and hiding from their enemies right in your own backyard.

Customer Reviews:

Perfect for the Bug Lover.......2007-05-06

This book and a bug box and you're set for the summer. My son often asks for this book.

A must-have for elementary science teachers.......2007-04-05

I am a preschool science teacher and I have found this book to be incredibly helpful when we were learning about how living things are classified. When learning about invertebrates, this is the book to have! The language is age appropriate and the illustrations are excellent. My preschoolers love this book! They walk away with a lot of information that is easy to remember.

But Ladybugs are beetles.......2006-11-10

I got this book out of the library for my 3 yr old grandson. Bugs were very important objects this summer. He had me renew the book so many times I finally bought it. He loves to hear about the different bugs, count their legs and body parts and identify the pictures. He's learning about science and having a ball. It's one of his favorite bedtime books.

I wish I could give this book 4.5 stars..........2005-01-12

My 3-year-old daughter is crazy about all the creepy crawly critters of the world, so I knew she would love this book, and her father and I think it's pretty cool as well. The cut paper illustrations are wonderful to look at, and the text is quite informative for readers of any age, yet it's accessible to even young preschoolers like mine.

However, I do have one criticism of the book, which is that it depicts crabs, lobsters, shrimps, and centipedes without offering any explanation of what kind of animals they are. The book also mentions spiders, scorpions, and daddy longlegs, and for these we are told that they are arachnids rather than insects, so why the lack of clarification for the other non-insect arthropods? It would have been very simple and logical for the text to include the information that crabs, lobsters, and shrimps belong to a group of animals called crustaceans, which is related to insects and arachnids, and that centipedes are members of another related group called myriapods. That's it, nothing more complicated would have been necessary... Or else don't introduce those animals at all. But don't make a point of putting them in the book only to say, "These are not insects," and then not bother to properly identify them for the reader; that's pointless and likely to leave many kids (and probably most parents) confused.

Still, the book is otherwise so nice, I wish it was possible to deduct only half a star from its rating for that one flaw.

Very pleased with this series.......2004-11-16

This book is a very good resource for study/teaching at the primary grade levels. The cut paper illustrations are beautiful and engaging. The text more than holds its own by giving young readers a chance to observe and compare many different kinds of insects and even an arachnid or two. Readers learn for themselves precisely 'what makes an insect an insect', while at the same time picking up a few good science vocabulary words and catching a glimpse of several dozens of different insects, (all of which are identified at the back of the book). Also included is a page with several suggestions for follow up activities.

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