Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow
Joyce Sidman, Author
Beth Krommes, Illustrator
Houghton Mifflin Company, Fiction, 2006
Suitable for: Ages 6 and up
Themes: Meadows, Science, Nature, Poetry
Opening/Synopsis: “On calm, clear summer nights, the meadow cools down quickly. Grasses, flowers, leaves, and even insects become cooler than the warm air around them. Just as it does on a cold can of soda pop, water vapor in the air condenses on those cool surfaces, forming dew. Then, as dawn comes and the sun touches them, the dew drops evaporate back into the air.” Written in both verse and prose, this is story of a living and breathing meadow that is dependent and connected to life, and is constantly changing. There are beautiful poems about the awakening meadow, the animal life, birds and insects, the flowering plants and grasses that offer a feeding frenzy for all, and trees that provide shade. Children are taken on a journey into the meadow from sunrise to sunset. Each poem brings science to life. The poems vary from mysterious and captivating, to silly and magical.
What I like about this book: Both author and illustrator fell in love with meadows as young children and found them enchanting. Joyce Sidman has written such a magical book, alternating between double spreads of verse and prose that add interesting science details about how life coexists in the meadow. Children will find that each poem is a riddle to solve about butterflies, snakes, rabbits, fox and deer. The text that follows provides the answers and interesting facts. Krommes illustrations are a feast for the eyes. Each illustration is made by a scratchboard technique that is rich and colorful. Children will enjoy studying every detail on the page. With Earth Day April 22, and Poetry Month in April, I found this book a lovely celebration of both. The author and illustrator have also released a book in 2011, Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature.
Activities: Since this is Earth Day weekend, it would be a nice time for a spring outing with your child. Visit a meadow in your area. Many local Park and Recreation Divisions, and Nature Preserves provide guided tours and programs. Let you child hunt for treasures that they can take home and make a collage of their own meadow as an earth day contribution. For Earth Day resources, click on this Earth Day link .
To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Books. Or click on the Perfect Picture Book Fridays badge in the right sidebar.
Children's Books Heal 
Great review, sounds like a wonderful book.
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Thanks Niamh. It is a great book for the reasons I mentioned. I loved playing a meadow near my house as a child, so it was especially meaningful to me. And the poetry is beautiful!
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Happy Early Earth Day! I like to sit in meadows and my backyard reading books or looking at the clouds. This would be a great book to read in a meadow! 😉
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Erik, thanks. I agree with you. I used to lay in tall grasses and watch the clouds pictures. Think this would be a perfect book to read in a meadow. I loved meadows as a kid.
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Perfect for Earth Day!! Thanks Patricia. Have a great weekend 🙂
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Thank you Coleen. Glad you liked my choice. I thought it made a nice Earth Day book.
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My daughter adores Earth Day. A few years ago she plastered handmade ‘Love The Earth” posters all over the neighborhood. I’m not sure the source of her terra-passion, but it sure was cute! She’d love this book. Thanks for featuring it!
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Cathy, it is a beautful book with lush illustrations, but fun! The author also has written other books, equally as beautiful Think your daughter would love this one.
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What a great choice! I love the idea that the verses are combined with prose. I will definitely check this one out.
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Julie, thanks. This is the second book I’ve reviewed with both verse and prose, and a fun read with kids. Keeps them guessing. It is absolutely stunning.
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Whenever anyone stops by our shop for the first time, we give them an origami butterfly. On the wings is the phrase “If nothing ever changed, there wouldn’t be butterfiles.” Thanks for sharing this lovely book!
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Craig, you always offer such a fresh perspective. I love your origami butterflies with the message about change. So appropriate! Glad you liked the book.
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I don’t have a child. However, I do remember when I was ten or so, my dad took me camping in Yellowstone Park. We came across a meadow that I thought looked magical. I got up especially early one morning to watch the sun rise and there were deer and a little bit of fog. I tried to imagine that this is what the entire earth might have looked like at one time before the rise of cities.
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Michael, thank you for sharing your camping experience in Yellowstone Park and your imaging how the entire looked like the lush park. I too have camped in Yellowstone as a child (and many, many other national parks) and so you reminded me of a beautiful brook or stream that wound like a snake in a meadow. The image is still with me. We need these special places to remind us of what our country really looked like.
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This book sounds so beautiful, Pat, and what a lovely choice for Earth Day! Thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
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Susanna, the book is absolutely beautiful. The poety is rich and fun for kids to guess what th poem is saying about the meadown. Lush pictures.
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I love the idea of the riddles. This is a great Earth Day book, Pat. Do you know that all the National Parks are free to visit in the US from 21-28 of April?
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Joannna, I thought the riddles were very creative. You would really like this amazing book. Thought of you and some of your poetry.
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Patricia, how serendipitous…I reviewed “Swirl By Swirl” for today’s PPBF. Great minds think alike. I’ll have to get this one.
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Kirstin, I just got back to answering my own comments. You are right, great mind think alike. You will love this one. Did you see the video of your book. I love her scratchboard illustrations. So beautiful.
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This is an interesting read, Pat. I love the pastel colors from the cover, and it’s certainly a treat to read about butterflies, among others. Where I live, there aren’t any meadows. Too “urbanized.” Whenever I see meadows, I think of flight and freedom. So nice to run around, plop on the grass, and greet the sun, without worrying about anything. The sight is both refreshing and invigorating. Perfect indeed for Earth Day weekend! 🙂
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Thank you Fats! You must live in a big city. I lived near meadows as a child and loved them. Flight and freedom are perfect discriptions. You would enjoy this book.
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Poems & beautiful illustrations! Sounds like a great book! Thanks for the review =)
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Amanda, glad you liked the selection. It is an unusual and beautiful way to use verse and prose together. Fun for kids.
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I love the artistic cover; how beautiful!
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Emma, thank you for stopping. The book is stunning and a wonderful story for children on Earth Day! Have seen your name around. My husband is a Ward, his mother’s maiden name.
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I love the sound of this one Pat. Each week raises the bar on books we can’t ignore.
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Catherine I really thought about you as I reviewed this one. You would love the poetry and prose together. It is absolutely beautiful and fun for kids! Kirsten happened to review the author’s latest book “Swirls,” today. Both are winnners.
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Excellent Earth Day choice. We live on a farm and we are huge on saving the earth and what God gave us. This book’s illustrations are beautiful. I can tell by the cover. Thank you so much for adding this very important book. 🙂
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Thank you Robyn. I fell in love with the cover and when I opened the book I was really delighted with the contents.
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As a child I used to stay with my Nana alot during school holidays and she had a huge meadow or paddock as we would call it from her back yard and I would often climb the fence and take her small dog and go lying in the long grass where noone can see you and just stare at the clouds and daydream. I used to try and catch butterflies there also. Lovely memories those. Thanks Pat for this lovely book and for the memories.
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Diane, sounds like we would have been great chums as kids, staring a clouds pictures, picking violets and chasing butterflies. Very similar memories. Thanks for your note.
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THis sounds like a beautiful book. Perfect for Earth Day! Thanks, Patricia 🙂
❀Barbara❀
Grade ONEderful
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Thank you Barbara, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Very unique book with lush photos. Happy Earth Day!
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Love the cover art and swirly lines that give the feeling of stems blowing in the breeze. Sounds very cool the way the riddles are incorporated in the poems.
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Ruth, glad you like the lush scratchboard illustrations that added dimension to the book. Beautiful book! Thanks for stopping.
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The art and story sound like a great combination. We are in the middle of a moth migration (invasion). I like the butterflies better.
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Stacy, think I agree. A moth migration, wow. Ohio is in the migration route for Monarch butterfies.
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