The Butterfly Alphabet

by Kjell B Sandved

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Nonfiction, Poetry, Art, Photography

64 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1996

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can be used as an alphabet book for the youngest learners, a beautiful 'abstract art in nature' book for those even younger, in poetry class, and as mentor text and mentor art. Or can be just plain enjoyed by all. Plenty of additional notes in the back to make it even more educational. I have no idea why it's not more popular... needs better publicity?

I'm recommending it to every one of my friends and followers here as most of you read children's books at least some of the time, and this is really so much more ... could even be a coffee table book, honestly.

[Debbie W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrations are very entertaining!

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book that defies many regular alphabet books. The presenting is unique, the subject is unique and the whole idea is.

The writing was a poem that was collective on all butterflies - mainly about the way they moved. The main subject for the letter on the page was just a word made bold out of the poem that also started with the same letter although exquisite for X was an exception.

The illustrations had a full picture of the butterfly or moth whose wing was being shown plus a magnified bit of wing. It was fun in some of the pictures to see if you could pinpoint the actual spot.

For those interested there is a section in the back that gives more information such as name, location and some fun facts. The author does acknowledge there may be some wrongly identified but all in all a great book for any. butterfly-lover.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

For each alphabet letter of the Roman alphabet, Sandved has featured a closeup of a butterfly or moth wind that includes the shape of that letter. Most of the photos are close-ups and the book becomes a lesson in the structure and design of these wings. The companion verse is pleasantly presented, but hardly has a chance when compared to the stunning photographs.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kjell Sandved scoured the butterflies and moths of the world to find the whole alphabet in the patterns of their wings. A rhyming couplet about butterflies and moths featuring one word of the letter of the alphabet accompanies a blow up of the letter on the wings and a small picture of the butterfly or moth it came from (the common name of the butterfly or moth is included under the small picture). In the back of the book more information on how long this project took the author as well as where each butterfly or moth is from in the world.

This was impressive for the number of years it took the author to find all the letters as well as being a beautiful book. The perfect alphabet book for littles who like butterflies or anyone who likes butterflies for that matter.

[Alyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read 25 picture this past week for a children's literature class. There were a few books that really stood out and this is one of them. This is a concept book (I term I just learned in my class) and teaches about the letters of the alphabet. What is impressive about the story is that it took the author 25 years to put this book together. He visited over 30 countries to photograph butterflies. The alphabet is made from butterfly wings. He has a close-up photo showing the letter and a photo of the butterfly. Each letter has a two line poem that uses the highlighted letter. It really is a delightful and beautiful way of teaching the alphabet!

[Maddie Adams]

The Butterfly Alphabet is a non-fiction book show casing close up imagery of letters and numbers appearing on the stunning designs of butterflies' wings when looked at close up. You learn more bout the beauty of these insects as you read through the alphabet A-Z. This book pays tribute to nature's artwork.

I thought this book was very beautiful and creative. The wording in the book was also said beautifully, very feminine though.

In the classroom, i think this can be used in a scientific aspect, maybe in a lesson on insects. I also think this book could be used in a setting like art class. Due to its beautiful pictures and the point of view it presents. This book also, would obviously be a great source to help a younger child learn the alphabet! There are many different versions of the alphabet and this one just might do the trick.

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awards: None
Grade level:PreK-2
Summary: Explore the alphabet while learning about butterflies.
My Review: This book is okay because the photographs are really nice and readers can learn about butterflies, but students might not pick up on the alphabet due to the vocabulary.
In Class: One class activity could be to find things around the school, classroom and in their homes that resemble letters in the alphabet to create a class alphabet book. This book can also used when introducing the butterfly unit (if the schools raises butterflies in first or second grade).

[The Campbell Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an alphabet book made with photos of letters found in butterfly wings. It's an amazing concept that is mostly pulled off. Fascinating to look at, but the text/poetry is a little over the top, and the foreward and afterward are fairly textbook-y. We also read this late at night, so the kids weren't interested in all the extra info, but I was! A good accompaniment to our recent experience raising caterpillars to butterflies.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and used it for my interactive informational book read aloud. It has a lot of very cool pictures of butterflies zoomed in to show details. This is a great book for all ages to learn more about butterflies!

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

See review on my blog.

https://buildinglifelongreaders.blogs...

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming and delightfully whimsical alphabet book using the patterns in butterfly and moth wings for inspiration. A beautiful achievement, the photography is enchanting.

[L M]

Beautiful butterfly pictures from master nature photographer Sanfved with a lovely verse about each letter seen in a butterfly’s scales. Informative backmatter

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photography, and 15 seven and eight yr olds were willing to sit through the poetry.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a traditional picture book teaching a young child their ABCs, it a CSS a C yÿ
is more of a photographic art book featuring butterflies from around the World who have the resemblance of various letters on their wings or other body points.
Copyright 1996 by KJell B. Sanded who is a nature photographer and lecturer on nature and has done work for the Smithsonian.

[Shanna Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this unusual book, the author presents a different butterfly or moth for each letter of the alphabet in a two-page spread. On the first of each page, the whole insect is presented by name in a small photograph, with a selected letter and a rhyming couplet; on the facing page is a close-up section of its wing, in which the letter's shape may be traced. The book ends with a few pages about the habits and characteristics of butterflies, as well as a more detailed description of each moth and butterfly featured in the book.

The book might provide some supplementary practice for young children learning the alphabet, but some of the letters are actually difficult to find in the wing patterns, and in a few examples it is difficult to see how the close-up image matches the insect on the facing page (it's likely that different individual insects from the same species were used for the two photographs). This might create frustration for readers who don't already know their letters; but for slightly older children, the exercise of finding familiar letters in the beautiful close-up photos will sharpen their observational skills, while providing them with a close-up view of these creatures. This will benefit all readers, but may be best appreciated by an audience which has some access to real butterflies, either in a butterfly garden or in an outdoor ramble.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up to help me write my ABC book for class. I love the use of language and larger words in context to give the reader clues as to what these challenging words meant. I learned a lot about butterflies as well. It included a poignant ending and a strong emphasis on certain words, bolding the words we may not know and that represent the letter for that page in order to establish that these words were more difficult, but still significant.
The words they picked for each letter were these significant words which I believe was intentional on Sandved’s part. This was to put focus on these specific words so that discussions can be made around them. It corresponds well with the pattern of A through Z in the story. It wasn’t simply a list, but a storyline as well.
Great read! The beautiful pictures matched with a majestic vocabulary should be in every library. I could use this with younger children to learn the alphabet and recognize letters in a new and different way!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I was a little, I loved stories my mother read to me and I detested math. My parents wanted me to be prepared for school. My mother got this for me before I had entered kindergarten and this helped me learn the alphabet. It was like a treasure because of the fact that butterflies have letters on them. This book led me into reading independently and in kindergarten I tested at the level of an 8th grade reader. Reading can be really fun if you can escape into a world made entirely of words and your imagination. It is an experience that only you can have because even though we read the same book, we will never imagine it the same way.

I am going to give this to my child one day-adopted or my own:) I recommend this simply because it was fun to look through and made the alphabet interesting, and helped me eat away through novels in my first few years of school.

[Mikayla Sims · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interactive and intriguing book for students and adults as well. On each page, the author has chosen a close up picture of a butterflies or moths wing that represents the different letters of the alphabet. Each page gives a description of a butterfly and their characteristics. I love the use of language and larger words in context to give the reader clues as to what these challenging words meant. This is a great way to implement this vocabulary into the students knowledge while making it interactive. This book is a great way to introduce students to the alphabet in a different way as well as the challenging vocabulary.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade level: K-2

Summary: Sandved photographs the alphabet and numeral 0-9 in the patterns found in butterfly wings. Also included is a snippets of information about each of the butterfly species.

Review: This is a beautiful photo book with some interesting information about butterflies. Vladmir Nabokov is one of my favorite authors, and his love of butterflies in his work made me want to pick this up off the shelf at the library. I think kids would like this book too.

In class uses: teaching about butterflies, learning the alphabet, learning about patterns and symmetry in nature

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful book, and a unique approach to illustrating an alphabet book- each letter is a magnification of a specific design on a butterfly's wing. We happen to be discussing butterflies and letter knowledge at my next storytime, so I'm going to show this book. The letter depictions do require some 'stretching' of the imagination, so this is best for kids who already have a firm grasp on the alphabet.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great resource for older grades! I would love to have students create an alphabet book about an animal they are interested in! The pictures in this book are very interesting! I could not imagine how long it took to find the entire alphabet hidden in the wings of countless butterflies! This book also offers information and facts about many different butterflies. Great resource book!

[Sandra Vicars · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating ABC book for all ages. The butterflies and moths used have exquisite designs. Some of the letters do require the imagination. The introduction and the text at the end of the book describing the butterflies used can be used for geography and science lessons. Posters for The Butterfly Alphabet are available online.

[Kelley Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a cool book. It is the alphabet as seen on the wings of different butterflies. They are all real species and the picture magnifies the spot on the wing that looks like the letter. It is so colorful and amazing what we can find in nature. I would not use this book to teach a student the alphabet but use as a reinforcer for a student who knows the alphabet.

[Nielson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really cool book. She took pictures of the alphabet on butterflies from all around the world. On one page she would have the whole butterfly and on the other page she would have a close up of the butterfly that showed the letter.

[Alnora]

This was a really cool book. Absolutely unique idea. I had a hard time visualizing some of the letters on the butterflies, but the majority of them were very obvious. I also liek that he included information about the different butterlfies/moths he used. Fun, fun book!

[Lauren Richards]

Each letter appears in a close-up photograph of a butterfly wing, accompanied by a poem. Book also contains information of butterflies found in pictures that come from all around the world.
(ABC books)

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a treasure of knowledge and a marvel to look through! Sandved not only has each letter of the alphabet portrayed, but he shared a delightful poem to go with it! The back of the book also has facts about each butterfly. I think this book is perfect for any age!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous picture book .

[Magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the idea and the execution.