Monarch and Milkweed
Atheneum Books for Young Readers (Simon and Schuster)
illustrated by Leonid Gore
ISBN: 9781416900856, 40pp.
Picture book—Ages 2 and up
A milkweed plant grows. A monarch butterfly finds it and lays an egg on the underside of a leaf. The egg hatches and so begins a new life cycle for the butterfly and the milkweed plant.
Monarch and Milkweed grew out of my close observations, over a period of many years, and is beautifully illustrated by Leonid Gore.
Every summer, I raise and release anywhere from 20- 100 monarchs. I bring in the eggs to protect them from wasps, which are even better at finding them than I am, and then when the caterpillars hatch, I feed them milkweed from my garden until they turn into chrysalises, and, about 12 days later, butterflies.
When the descendants of those monarchs make the return journey from Mexico back to Indiana, I imagine they look for the “Monarch Waystation” sign in my front yard and thus are led to the milkweed that now comes up all over the place.
For my birthday in 2019, I traveled to Macheros, Mexico and visited two butterfly sanctuaries, El Rosario and Cerro Pelón.
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- A monarch stops in Helen’s back yard to lay an egg on a milkweed plant.
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- A monarch emerges on the same day our honored guest Min Ko Naing was visiting from Myanmar.
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- A monarch is almost ready to emerge from its chrysalis.
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- Monarchs cluster in trees in Mexico in order to stay warm.
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- Thousands of monarchs fill the sky in El Rosario, Mexico.
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- Swamp milkweed flowers
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- Tropical milkweed flowers
Quotes from Reviews
“…Frost…found inspiration in her own backyard for this picture book … From the endpapers … to the author’s note … every aspect of this pleasing book contributes to the whole….” —Booklist (starred)
“Scientific information is offered in a poetic way that conveys a sense of awe.” —School Library Journal (starred)
“…By elevating the humble milkweed, the text invites readers to consider the whole environment rather than simply one part of it-a happy introduction to a sophisticated view of the world.” —Kirkus Reviews