Book Reviews
This is a must-have book for both novice and
experienced butterfly gardeners. The photographs of
the stages will leave you in your own stage of
delighted shock. Six stars.

Just as I was complaining about not being able to
locate a butterfly garden book that identifies the
developmental stages of common garden butterflies,
this book appears. I’m excited about my gardening
possibilities this next spring and summer and have
siblings Judy Burris and Wayne Richards to thank.
They wrote the book I would if I could.

This book is the result of research by experts that are
able to teach others in most practical ways. Along with
that, the photos are beautiful and give a glimpse into
the intermost workings of nature that a reader has
never seen or imagined. Practical guides for planting
your own butterfly garden will give you a taste of
paradise in your own back yard. A "must have" for
anyone intereted in butterflies, from the seasoned to
the novice seeking to know more about the subject.

I am very pleased with my book. This is the second
one I have bought. I gave it as a gift to a good friend
who loves butterflies.

A most excellent book both photographic and
informational. The authors are very interested in this
subject and are happy to answer questions from
readers. No other book has this type of photographic
reference for eggs, caterpillars and host plants. Can't
say enough positive things about this one!

For anyone interested in butterflies this is a must for
your library. Simple enough for a four-year-old to enjoy
it will also appeal to the serious butterfly gardener who
wishes to establish a habitat for these lovely creatures.
I will enjoy it over and over. It also will make a great gift
to your school library or just to a friend. This Master
Gardener gives it an A+.

I love having the pictures of all stages of the butterflies
life span to identify with in my own gardens. This book
is for every age and everyone who is interested in
butterflies.

The best book I've read on butterflies. Excellent
pictures to identify each butterfly as well as the egg
and caterpillar. Also extremely helpful is the listing and
photo of host and nectar plants for each butterfly.
I purchased another one to give my grandson for his
birthday.

I have seen this listed as a children's book, and it
would be appropriate for many children, but I find it
quite beautiful and informative enough to be suitable
for adults as well.

I bought this for my five-year-old for her birthday to
accompany the butterfly kit. Some info is a little
advanced, but most of it, she understands and is
fascinated by it. The photographs are great, and the
layout is spot on.

This is a MUST HAVE book for anyone interested in
butterflies, either for a good read, or for learning how
to attract them to your garden. The photographs are
beautiful with excellent descriptives of each, from the
egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. Field notes are
included for each butterfly, and host plants and nectar
plants are clearly defined by photographs. Incredibly
informative! I highly recommend this book from ages
10 to adults.

The wonderful book is well-organized, with lots of
great information for the casual and serious observer
of nature. Great series of photos 23 butterflies' life-
cycles. There are maps of the breeding-range, graphs
of the life-cycle season, and a size of wingspan
drawing, which are all very helpful.  All in all, this is a
book anyone interested in knowing more about
butterflies will cherish, and pull out to show children. A
fabulous gift for a serious gardener, or a curious child,
aged 5 to 12 especially!

I bought this book at the same time that I bought the
Audubon book on butterflies. This one is so much
better because it gives useful details and pictures
about the entire life cycle, which part of the US it's
found in, host plants,etc. The Audubon book has just
one picture of each butterfly whereas this book has
dozens of pictures from egg to caterpillar to emerging
butterfly not to mention host plants and where to plant
them.
The first thing I noticed about The Secret
Lives of Backyard Bugs is the vivid and very
detailed pictures. You can see amazing
details like the individual hairs on the back of
a caterpillar or the pupil of the leaf hopper's
eye! The colors really stand out!  The
introduction of this book will come in handy to
new gardeners: sections on the seasons,
composting, plant life cycles, and helpful
pollinators. This is a short introduction,
though. Most of the book is about the bugs!

My kids are huge fans of bugs and the
amazing photography really caught their eye.
My favorite part of this book is the handy
comparison guide in the back for each stage
of the life cycle. Go out, find a bug, open it to
those comparison guides and find your critter.
What a great way to keep your kids busy
outside!

The excellence continues! The authors of
`The Life Cycles of Butterflies' have released
another work of art on several levels in this
second book. The photography is matchless,
their rich knowledge is the result of their
relentless pursuit of learning, and the
greatest achievement of all is the mastery of
conveying their knowledge in such a way that
the young child as well as the veteran
naturalist will both be satisfied with this gem
of a book.

Outstanding book; bought for my 10 year old
granddaughter who has a keen interest in
bugs. Especially useful were color photos of
each bug's life cycle stages, providing more
of what to look for in the back yard. Her
interests were heightened and she is now
using the book as she explores and discovers.

I really am not a fan of bugs — the live variety
or the type depicted in books, but “The
Secret Lives of Backyard Bugs” is an
amazing book full of easy text and colored
photos depicting the lives of various bugs,
such as aphids, stink bugs, katydids,
grasshoppers, assorted moths and
butterflies.  The layout is easy to follow, the
glossy pages are top-notch and the photos
are wonderful. It really made those bugs —
not counting butterflies, of course — not
seem quite so gross.

The pages are filled with lots of great color
photos arranged in a magazine-like format.
The whole book seems like it could be the
bug edition of Ranger Rick. The back of the
book has comparison charts to help identify
eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults. It would
make a great home reference book for any
kid interested in bugs.

Intended to inspire budding entomologists to
get their hands dirty and scare mom with
some creepy crawlies in the process, the
volume satisfies on both scores. Older
readers will glom onto the wealth of
knowledge about life cycles and information
on how to grow the best host plants for these
bugs, while the picture-book format will
undoubtedly elicit excited choruses of
"Gross!" from younger readers. The species
highlighted are commonly found across the
United States and readers are challenged to
find these bugs for themselves, with tips
provided on how to raise moths and,
importantly, protect bug habitat.

Kids love bugs, and this magazine-sized,
slick-paper book is crawling with them.
Worms, spiders, butterflies, moths,
caterpillars, bees, beetles and more. There
are bug eggs, bugs in larval stages, pupae
stages. Some make cocoons, some fly, many
crawl. Some eat plants, some eat other
bugs.  This is a very nice nature book for
children ages 8-12. It will provide them not
only with answers but with some good
questions too. The best books do that.

Stunning photography!
Every living thing progresses through life
cycles, often with bugs we only see the adult
stage. In awe filled photography we are able
to see complete life cycles of insects and
spiders from eggs to larvae, pupa to adult.
There is a description of each insect, order it
belongs to, and trivia facts for each insect
displayed. This is by far one of the most
interesting bug books I have ever read.
It also includes a top host and nectar plant
guide, comparison guides for each stage of
the life cycle, and briefly touches on plant
and soil life.
Again, Amazing photography, simple yet very
informative for all ages! Detailed descriptions
and photographs make this book interesting
even for those who aren't overly found of
insects.