The Chatham Island red admiral butterfly, Kahukura, is playing an island-wide game of hide and seek. She takes to the sky to find insects high and low, all of which cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
In amongst the native flora, she finds the thought-to-be extinct Pitt Island longhorn beetle, a Chatham Island fat-legged wētā, one of Aotearoa's weightiest spiders, and much more.
The Butterfly Fluttered By showcases nature with realistic, eye-catching illustrations and a simplebut compelling story. Author Kate Preece has teamed up again with illustrator Pippa Ensor, followingthe success of their earlier book One Weka Went Walking.
Kahukura's story is interspersed with interesting facts about each animal she finds. Preece ensures readers can easily relate to them, rather than firing out facts and figures - a Chatham Island cockroach is slightly bigger than a pea, for example, or the Chatham Island moth has a wingspan as long as an AA battery.
The insects within the book are only found on Chatham Island and it's a wonderful opener for children to explore a lesser-known part of our country.
The rhyming words and rhythmic verse make this a beautiful book to read aloud, and I love that Preece includes te reo Māori and ta rē Moriori, too.
Ensor's illustrations are elegant and delicatebut richly detailed and realistic. The flora are simple black-and-white, while the fauna burst from the page in colour, making for a striking design.
The Butterfly Fluttered By is another stunning book and an important resource from a talented pair. It will shine a light on our natural environment and inspire readers to get out there and explore.
Reviewer: Rebekah Lyell
Bateman Books