'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Monday 5 September 2022

Review: Where Do Butterflies Go At Night?

The cover image for this beautiful book suggests something quite special – perhaps a meditation or a mysterious, moonlit journey. 

There’s something magical from the get-go with Where Do Butterflies Go At Night, and opening the pages reveals that the words of the story too, are full of an engaging and dreamy charm. 

The artworks depicting night-time have a particularly luminous quality to them.

A child watches the butterflies at play through the day as they sip nectar and dance on the wind, and wonders where they sleep at night. 

Do they visit the park, float on the lake, sleep with the spiders? It’s an excellent question and one that I’m glad has been posed. Where DO butterflies go at night?

Told in satisfying rhyme and supported with illustrations of glorious colour, this story tells of the Cabbage White Butterfly in a gentle and accessible way.

When our narrator pounces out of bed early in the morning but cannot find any trace of the butterflies from yesterday, we are concerned. Eight a.m. comes and goes, then nine a.m., and still no sign of the white winged critters. But then, at ten, they do reappear. Our narrator is able to trace them back to their beds and finds that they sleep in… spoiler alert… flower petals!

An utterly delightful book with the added bonus of an ‘Action’ plan at the end for conservation ideas, with ways to attract these important pollinators into your own garden at home. An extra feel-good factor is that this publisher uses FSC and/or recycled papers, and soy-based inks. What’s not to love!

A wonderful addition for home and school libraries.

Title: Where Do Butterflies Go At Night?
Author: Jeanne Balsam
Illustrator: Stella Mongodi
Publisher: Ethicool $25.00
Publication Date: July 2022
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780648872368
For ages: 0 - 6
Type: Picture Book