THE MYSTERY OF THE MONARCHS

THE MYSTERY OF THE MONARCHS by Barb Rosenstock. Illustrated by Erika Meza

I always love watching the monarchs during this time of year. It's not uncommon for me to stop along our neighbor's field when driving home from errands to look over the milkweed. The numbers are definitely down, but I am so thankful to be seeing some activity.

So, when I saw that Barb Rosenstock had written a new book about monarchs, I had to check it out!

Rosenstock takes a little different approach to her books when she writes. She is a former teacher, and she loves to find some unique piece of information or question about her subject and research it out. In her newest book, The Mystery of the Monarchs, her subject is Fred Urquhart. He always loved insects, but his favorite was the monarch butterfly. He wondered where they went. This is a beautiful story about the discovery of monarch migration. It is absolutely breathtaking when you think about being the one to discover where they went and walking into those deep, secret places.

Illustrator Erika Meza does an amazing job on the pages of this book. She was born in the area of Mexico that the monarchs go to migrate, and you can see her knowledge and love in her pictures. She uses a myriad of mediums on the pages: acrylic gouache, watercolor, ink, pastel pencils, and my favorite - coffee splashes! (Wonder if those were on purpose, or if something beautiful came out of a mishap!)

Alongside Activities- There are so many possibilities! First off, check out the author and illustrator information pages at the back of the book. There is a lot suggestions on how you can get involved!

-Watch for monarchs! Carefully look over milkweed and see if you can spot caterpillars, chrysalises, etc. Be very gentle!

-I was listening to the local radio station about a month ago and happened to hear an interview with our local master gardeners. This year at the fair they will have milkweed seeds to give away at their booth. Consider stopping by and planting some!

-Consider planting flowers that butterflies enjoy. I frequently have 2 monarch visitors at my zinnias. Next year I'm going to enlarge that area.

- Find the areas in Mexico that the butterflies migrate to. Roughly figure how far it is from your state to their migration destination. Note the terrain they have to go over from your location to their winter home!