[.ca] Marigold's Wings (ISBN 0836845005)

Amazon.ca:
What would it be like to be a monarch butterfly and fly all the way from Canada to Mexico? Marigold, a "fat little caterpillar" in Vlasta van Kampen's picture book Marigold's Wings, dreams of making just such a trip. Marigold, whose thoughts are full of growing wings and joining the other butterflies, falls off the leaf she is munching on. The next thing she knows her fantasy appears to have come true. She is hanging upside down from a branch, "just like a possum," and soon emerges from her "house" as a full-grown monarch butterfly. Van Kampen offers an insect's-eye view of the hardships and dangers on the monarchs' incredible journey south. Marigold's 4,800-kilometer flight over the Great Lakes and across the United States is no garden-variety adventure. There are spider webs to avoid, a cow comes close to chomping her down, and an "enormous frog" tries to catch her on its tongue. Moreover, her beautiful new wings are torn by the buffeting winds. But with the help of a supporting cast of glossy-winged insect friends, Marigold never loses hope of reaching the mountains of Mexico, where the trees are decorated with millions of sparkling monarch butterflies like her. The popular author of Orchestranimals, Beetle Bedlam, and A Drop of Gold brings her love of nature and bugs to this vibrantly illustrated science story. An afterword by a monarch butterfly specialist encourages interested children to learn more about the insect kingdom's hardiest travelers. (Ages 4 to 8) --Lisa Alward