Mr. McGinty's monarchs

Peppy, bright illustrations make this standard catch-and-release butterfly story cheerful. Elderly Mr. McGinty likes watching the monarch caterpillars turn into butterflies. When their usual laying ground of milkweed is mowed over, Mr. McGinty works to save them. Narrative motion and facts throughout make this a pleasant, if not particularly compelling, educational picture book. Back matter explains monarch migration and the importance of milkweed. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Mr. McGinty and his dog, Sophie, perform a heroic monarch rescue. When the monarch caterpillars' host plants on the roadside are cut down, Mr. McGinty gathers the tiny creatures, houses them properly in aquariums, and shares them with schoolchildren who nurture them until they grow into butterflies and can fly away. This simple storyline serves as an introduction to the monarch life cycle for very young readers and listeners. Beginning with endpapers showing the monarch life cycle, a variety of other butterflies, a few children's drawings, and an artfully placed ticket to a zoo butterfly pavilion, cheerful and detailed illustrations (probably watercolor and ink) enliven the story and add important information. One page shows the well-equipped aquarium (the word "terrarium" is never used). On another, a series of vignettes demonstrates a monarch's journey from tiny caterpillar to chrysalis to the still-weak, just-emerged butterfly, providing a climactic moment. This is followed by two celebratory scenes: Mr. McGinty, Sophie, the children, and their teachers go to a park to release their now-strong butterflies and a double-page spread is filled with monarchs flying away. Finally, two pages of backmatter clearly and simply explain the relationship between monarchs and their milkweed host plants and the monarch migration. Even this text is aimed at young readers. An appealing and appropriate addition to the nature shelf in the preschool and early elementary grades. (Informational picture book. 4-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.