The Monarch

by Kirsten Hall, Isabelle Arsenault (illustrator)

A gorgeous, lively picture book companion to Kirsten Hall and Isabelle Arsenault’s beloved and acclaimed The Honeybee that celebrates the inspiring journey of the monarch butterfly.

What’s that?
In the air!
Over here?
Over there!

It’s the start of a brand-new story…

With sweetly fluttering verse and lush, gorgeous illustrations, this brightly beautiful picture book celebrates the wonders of monarch butterflies—a treasured species in need of care and preservation!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nature, Animals, Nonfiction, Juvenile, Stem

48 pages, Hardcover

Published May 13, 2025

About the author

Kirsten is a native New Yorker. After college, where she majored in English and minored in Child Development, Hall taught preschool and then Kindergarten while studying Early Childhood Education in NYU’s masters program. Her first easy reader book was written (and published) when she was in the 7th grade. Since then she has written approximately 150 early reader and chapter books for children, on a broad range of topics, for publishers including Scholastic, HarperCollins, Barnes & Noble, Random House, and Chronicle.
In addition to writing, Hall operates her own boutique illustration and literary agency, Catbird Productions. Hall currently resides in New York City.

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this a few months ago and since I love butterflies as well as books about wildlife and nature, especially ones that explain the natural world to (younger) readers, my interest was piqued.

Here, we are taught about the monarch butterfly and its life cycle in cute illustrations:





A seemingly small book but with quite the story to tell and a nice way to literally illustrate one of nature's wonders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrXzY...

[Patrizia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo albo illustrato è meraviglioso, un vero gioiello soprattutto per chi come me ama le farfalle.
La storia della nascita e la successiva migrazione delle farfalle monarca incanta e le bellissime illustrazioni che l'accompagnano arricchiscono il tutto come una dolce melodia.
Suggerisco la lettura soprattutto agli appassionati del genere o a chi ha voglia di perdersi nella magia della natura.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful story about the monarch butterfly, and how it progresses from a caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly. The illustrations are very colorful and well done. At the end of the story, there is a letter to the readers talking about how monarchs are in danger and what we can do to ensure that they do not disappear from our world.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Monarch is a lovely introduction to the life cycle and migration of the Monarch butterfly. It covers lots of information through a charming poetic form that makes for a delightful read aloud. The pictures are cute too. The notes at the end share extra information on Monarchs and on how we can help protect them. Recommended!

[Ileana (The Tiniest Book Club) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diese Farben! Wie „Die Honigbiene“, der Vorgänger in dieser Bilderbuchreihe, ist auch „Der Schmetterling“ optisch unfassbar toll. Isabelle Arsenault illustriert den Lebenszyklus des Monarchfalters, der sich auf tausende Kilometer lange Wanderungen begibt, die mehrere Generationen dauern, schlicht umwerfend.

Der Text zu den Illustrationen ist gereimt und wird den Bildern nicht ganz gerecht, vielleicht ist auch die Übersetzung manchmal etwas sperrig. Gut gefallen haben mir die Infoseiten über die Migration der Monarchfalter im Anhang.

Wenn Euch die Frühlingssehnsucht tief in den Knochen sitzt: diese Augenweide von einem Bilderbuch verstärkt sie noch!

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

An ode to the Monarch, exploring its beginning and life cycle as it's driven by the innate call of nature.

[Jessica Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is very upbeat in tone and rhymes once or so on each page or spread. The information presented is pretty good for a very young audience.

I was left confused at one page spread in the book, it seemed out of place and then the same thing is said again later. I went back to see if I accidentally fliped an extra page, but alas no. Felt a bit like an editing miss/mistake there.

The illustrations were alright, not super bright. I didn't love the style personally but it is much better than some children's books.

Overall this was a good children's book about monarch butterflies, but not one I loved.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, readers follow a butterfly's journey from caterpillar to butterfly. The adorable butterfly zips and zooms through the book, visiting a barn to find a mate while sipping from various flowers along the way. While not strictly nonfiction (the butterfly speaks and has a friendly cartoonlike face), factually information is integrated into the story. Written in rhyme, the book reads aloud nicely. Additional information about monarchs and their yearly migration is included in the back matter, along with information about the dangers they face and how people can help. A map is also included in the back matter showing the general migration cycle from Canada/northeastern U.S. to Mexico. Arsenault's illustrations complement the text beautifully with plenty of swooping occurring as the butterfly travels on her migration. Informative and appealing, The Monarch makes for a great book to share in a classroom or story time. Recommended.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an Isabelle Arsenault to fan, I had to read this, and was glad I did, because the artwork is wonderful, as usual, from her. And Monarachs (butterflies, you anti-nature folks!). We get introduced engagingly to the life cycle through primarily green and orange, no surprise. Helpful afterword letter too adult and kid readers. Your activism? Preserve natural spaces. Plant milkweed and wildflowers! Easy peasy!

I am not a fan of the very short, simple, rhymey text. It's enthusiastic, meant to be fun, and I grudgingly admit littleuns might like it bettter than the better poetry I would have preferred. But it's just not good to me; "What's that? In the air! Over here? Over there!" or "Sgh zips, she zooms. Where are the blooms?" To be fair, Hall was a preschool teacher so I give her the nod for her area of expertise in kid-connection.

This is as always for Arseneault, 5 stars, and I'll say 3 stars for the text, 4 over all.

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This picture book teaches the life cycle of Monarch butterfly and the Monarch's annual two-way migration.

The text is written in rhyming couplets. The illustration were created using ink, gouache, watercolor, pencil, color pencils, and digital.

This book is better suited for upper elementary level readers. A picture book on the topic of the butterfly lifecycle written for lower elementary readers is Papilio, featuring a Black Swallowtail Butterfly.

[Anna Mock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is darling. I like the amount of text and that it rhymes. That makes it so much easier to read. I also like the info page in the back - because there is SO MUCH SCIENCE and incredible information about monarchs that the author just couldn't put into a sweet, little poem. The illustrations are very cute. I appreciate that they made the milkweed - at least the leaves and the stalks - actually look like milkweed. The flowers are a little extra simplified, but I suppose it IS a simplified book for children. Anyway, we enjoyed this book. It fits really well with our collection of nature lore picture books.

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Monarch’s life story is revealed and enhanced by the soft and delicate illustrations in this picture book. It begins with the egg, followed by a crunching caterpillar who then goes into a cocoon for transformation. A beautiful butterfly emerges to lay her own eggs and begin the new cycle of life. The glow from thousands of monarchs’ dance through the skies as migration begins. This picturesque study of the amazing life of the monarch will have children searching their gardens and observing the world of nature around them

[A Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love monarch butterflies and I wanted to like this book but it just wasn't for me. There is a lot of nothing happening in this book. There are a lot of words and pages to describe that nothing, too.

[Polly Crandall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely rhyming story: beautiful illustrations!

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the book about Honeybees from the same author and this one is just as beautiful. Perfect for little ones to get a glimpse of the life of a monarch butterfly.

[Kylie Grace Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for mother's day~

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found in L4L Volume 165

[Korey Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Gorgeous book with a great little Monarch story!
Great for kids of all ages. :)
Especially those who love Butterflies!

[Cope · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little sad and melancholy to think about the shortness of life

[Alyssa Gudenburr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part factual part story, tells the life of a monarch butterfly. This book is LONG so best as a one-on-one story or independent read for children interested in butterflies.

[Henry Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good picture book about the life cycle of monarch butterflys. 7/10

[Milton Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful picture book that celebrates the monarch butterfly! This story is a fun rhyme that also clearly explains the monarch life cycle, migration, and gardening practices. A must for any nature enthusiast or curious kids and adults!

Find it in our SHARE Catalog today!

Ashley C. / Milton Public Library #CheckOutMPL

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations were what stood out to me in this title, but strangely enough I did care for the arrangement of the text on the page or the physical look of the text going from thin lines to thicker and back to thinner. From the publishing information apparently the illustrator also designed the appearance of the text.