  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 12/01/2020 *Starred Review* The Sibert Medal–winning creators of Parrots over Puerto Rico (2013) join forces to tell another moving story of conservation, this time about Hawaii’s Kamehameha butterfly. They truly start at the beginning, taking readers back to the island chain’s volcanic birth and then zipping forward to the early nineteenth century, when King Kamehameha united the Hawaiian islands under his rule. This is how Hawaii’s endemic black, orange, and white butterfly came to be named Kamehameha. The book now leaps to 2009, when six fifth-graders asked local lawmakers to make the Kamehameha butterfly, the population of which was dwindling, Hawaii’s state insect. The children were successful, and the state government went on to start the Pulelehua (Butterfly) Project with the help of the University of Hawaii and a lot of citizen scientists. All this comes to life in Roth’s paper collages, which beautifully mix texture and color, as she creates everything from delicate butterfly wings to an opalescent comet’s tail. Trumbore’s engaging writing is saturated with information that is accessible to a broad audience, as a simple phrase runs along the top of each page for young readers that sums up the more detailed paragraphs at the page’s bottom. Readers will be excited to see kids playing an important role in the conservation of this butterfly, so be ready with additional resources on local citizen-science opportunities. A beautiful story beautifully told. - Copyright 2020 Booklist. School Library Journal - 02/01/2021 Gr 1–4—Conservation, citizen science, and a perennially popular juvenile nonfiction topic come together in this beautifully illustrated title about Hawai'i's Kamehameha butterflies. The narrative begins with the formation of the Hawaiian islands and introduces Kamehameha as the king who unified the islands under his leadership. He also had a butterfly named for him. In 2009, six fifth-grade students campaigned to get the Kamehameha butterfly named as Hawai'i's official state insect in an effort to raise awareness of the population's decline. The Pulelehua Project was formed, and its scientists asked Hawaiian citizens to record and submit data of the butterflies in their natural habitats in the stages of their life cycle. This information helped determine where and when to release butterflies from a breeding program into the wild. The text works on two levels to expand its intended audience range. The top of each spread features a short sentence, often with a repetitive clause, that draws a simple throughline in the story. More complex scientific concepts and explanations are included in paragraphs near the bottom of the pages. Roth's intricate and appealing collages elevate the title, opening strongly on an exploding volcano and making each page turn an anticipatory delight. An afterword, illustrator's note, acknowledgments, sources, and photograph credits are included. VERDICT A triumph; highly recommended for all libraries.—Kacy Helwick, New Orleans P.L. - Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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