Butterfly House was written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Greg Shed. It was published by Scholastic Press in 1999 and is recommended for first grade.
A young girl and her grandfather bond by saving a caterpillar from being eaten and raise it until it's a butterfly. They create a small environment for it and watch each stage the caterpillar passes through.
Butterfly House is a good source of contemporary realistic fiction because it includes the concepts of family and friend relationships along with the educational experience of the butterfly life cycle. It also introduces the concept of aging; Bunting does this by showing the butterfly life cycle and the aging of humans. The young girl at the beginning of the story is as old as her grandfather was at the end of the story. The topic is suitable for children, and the plot and characters are very realistic. The themes emerge naturally and create a warm-hearted feel to the book.
The illustrations by Greg Shed also contribute by enhancing the story. They show beautiful representations of each cycle of the butterfly. Shed used gouache on canvas to create his illustrations and they reflected the pleasant tone of the story. (No illustrations have been leaked to Google or Yahoo, so you'll have to get the book to see them.)
After reading Butterfly House to the class, discuss as a group what happened in the story and compare the life cycles of butterflies and humans as Eve Bunting did. For an activity, have the students cut out and color printouts of each part of the butterfly cycle. (I've included an example of a print-out below.) After they've finished, they should be able to retell the story of the lifecycle by using their cut-outs. You could also include a picture quiz of the life cycle where they could put the stages in order.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.2
Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson.
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