The Butterfly Alphabet - Hardcover

Sandved, Kjell Bloch

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0590480030 ISBN 13: 9780590480031

Publisher: Scholastic, 1996

Synopsis

An alphabetical celebration follows the author's twenty-year journey through thirty countries in which he sought out the hidden letters on moth and butterfly wings.

About this title

Review

"One day many years ago, as I was looking through a microscope at a tropical moth, to my surprise I noticed a tiny, perfect letter F hidden on the wing. I was astounded and wondered if I could find other letters. Perhaps I could even find the entire alphabet in the wings of butterflies and moths! I decided that I was going to be the first to try."

So wrote Kjell B. Sandved in his introduction to The Butterfly Alphabet. Little did he know that it would take him more than 25 years, with visits to more than 30 countries, to discover and photograph all the letters of the alphabet in butterfly wings. This glorious book is the fruit of his labors. On each spread, you'll find a picture of the whole butterfly or moth and its common name, with a full-page, full-color close-up on the adjacent page of the letter on the creature's tiny wing scales. A gentle poem accompanies the flight from A to Z as well: "On wings aloft across the skies-- / An alphabet of butterflies. / Each butterfly in secret brings / A letter hidden in its wings." A few butterfly basics and a glossary of the species featured in the book close this fascinating, loving, photographic ode to the order Lepidoptera. (Ages 4 to 104) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly

An expansion of Sandved's award-winning poster in which letters and numbers can be deciphered in close-up exposures of butterflies and moths, this book marks a virtuoso performance by a talented nature photographer. Taken during his travels to more than 30 countries over 25 years, the photos collected here include crystalline shots of 26 intricately patterned butterflies and moths, positioned opposite large-scale magnifications of a portion of the featured species. Using optical equipment he devised himself, including microscopic lenses attached to bellows, Sandved has created breathtaking close-ups in which even the youngest readers will have no trouble spotting the highlighted letter. Though some of the rhymed couplets accompanying the photos are a bit precious ("The flutter of their little wings / Inspires love for all small things"), Sandved's concluding notes on the species examined are lucid and informative. A treasure for photography buffs and aspiring lepidopterists of all ages, this volume pays deserved tribute to nature's spectacular artwork, as well as to Sandved's remarkably discerning eye. All ages.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scholastic
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0590480030
• ISBN 13: 9780590480031
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 64