The Adventures of Johnny Butterflyseed

The United States is a nation not known for its love of monarchs - in fact, its very existence is due to overturning one. Whether that historical lack of respect has any bearing on the plight of the present day monarch butterfly is an open question, but these are modern day monarchs which are suffering every bit as much as King George 3rd did with his mystery illness. They're just suffering in a different way.

With the solid words of Parrish, based on real-life experience, and the beautiful art of Richoll and her charming butterfly girls, this book tells a short story of how every one of us can become a 'butterfly farmer' and help grow the milkweed that in turns grows the monarchs, and will help them recover from farming practices that have not been the monarch's friend - nor the friend to a host of other wildlife either.

For me the language of the story was a bit overly-florid at times, but it was about flowers and butterflies after all, so I guess I can't complain about that! I did love the story, and especially the can-do positivity, as well as the idea that everybody can pitch in here, and I fully commend this as a worthy read.

It was interesting to learn so much about butterflies and how to support their population, but this is definitely more of an enrichment book than a story book. The amount and density of the text make it most appropriate for middle-grade students even though it includes characters and art that are picture book-style. Still, it might be an accessible introduction to conservation for older students and is certainly worth a try!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

This fun fictionized educational book about saving Monarch butterflies represents a true crisis and is a call to action for all kids. I loved the story about the Monarch Queen Venus, Raven Monarch, and the human boy named Johnny Butterflyseed, who wanted to save the Monarch butterflies before they became further endangered. Johnny, a butterfly farmer, educates the children in local schools how to become a butterfly farmer. The illustrations are beautiful, bright, and colorful. The names of the characters were creative and fun.

My four-year-old daughter captured a caterpillar, watched it throughout Its’ life cycle, then released the beautiful Monarch butterfly. This was a beautiful experience for her and her Grammy to share. I know that the book is designed for 8 to 11 year-olds but I believe that younger children can also participate with a little adult help. I don’t know of a child who doesn’t like butterflies.

This book could be used in elementary schools as part of an entomology module. Libraries could have a “Butterfly Day” where they planted milkwood seeds. Additionally, this book would be a wonderful addition to any child’s home library.

I champion the author for her involvement in this ecological crisis. If we don’t take care of our world, we won’t have a world left to take care of.

I received this advanced reader’s copy from Author Tarisa Parrish, Illustrator Stephanie Richoll, Post Hill Press, and NetGalley. This is a voluntary review, and all comments and opinions are entirely my own.

I'm torn on how to best review this title because I think there was a bit of disconnect with the targeted audience and how the content was presented.
BUT- I do think there are multiple ways that the issues I found can be overlooked because Tarisa really brought such depth and a truly important message into The Adventures of Johnny Butterflyseed.

My main critique is that the book initially seemed geared towards younger children- but upon reading, the language, amount of text and overall themes are (in my opinion) better suited for kids middle aged and older. I think that with the author's background and ties to education/preservation, reading through Johnny's adventures felt more formal than I'm used to for a book geared towards children.
I enjoyed the storyline- weaving humans, fairies and butterflies together to promote conservation and education in a fun (but also serious) way. I learned a lot about how Monarch butterflies are endangered and how we can work together to become advocates of change.

A lot of technical detail was provided which is why I would recommend it more for an older audience- and I think it would be suuuper fun to pair it with a creative lesson plan with milkweed or caterpillars. The art was beautiful, but I found it to closely resemble what I'd find in a graphic novel- not a children's picture book.

Overall I enjoyed this charming and informative book from a REAL LIFE BUTTERFLY FARMER- I mean, how cool is that? This book would be great for all ages in general- it can be skimmed down to be a bedtime story for young kiddos until they're able to understand the bigger concepts that would be more engaging for older readers. Even though I felt conflicted with the intended audience, I do think it's pretty neat that even with that disconnect that I noticed- the book is a lot more versatile!

Thank you to Netgalley, Tarisa and the publisher for allowing me to read and review this!

This is a fun and wonderful story for the little ones! It was a fun adventure following Johnny and Raven as they try to make a difference and help save the butterflies! The illustrations are bright and colorful! They will easily grab the little ones attention! It's great teaching the kids about the environment and teaching them ways to get involved! And with summer coming it would be fun for the kids to see their own milkweed plants grow!

This book tells the story of Johnny Butterflyseed, a man who loves butterflies and is deeply saddened when notices that there are much fewer butterflies this year in his butterfly garden than in past years. He talks with his fairy friend (who looks like a monarch butterfly) and she helps him figure out what to do. The strategies discussed are all strategies that anyone can do in their community. Despite Johnny's apprehension and feelings of premature defeat when facing this perceived failure, this book demonstrates that there is no challenge too big when communities come together. There is so much great information about butterflies and how to protect them. The book is made up of alternating pages of full colour illustrations and blank white pages with black text. The font is easy to read, fairly large and well spaced on the page. There are some more challenging words but I would guess that it is written around a grade 3 level. I would recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the age 6-12 range. As a grade 3 teacher I could definitely see this book in my classroom library. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

With monarchs on the endangered species list this book has never been more important. Raven Silverwing and Queen Venus Goldwing made this book into an unexpected fairytale.

This book is inspiring and uplifting that we can save the butterflies. It addresses habitat loss and the effects of herbicides on the butterfly population, and offers solutions on how we can help.

This is a cute but educational children’s novel on how to support the butterfly population. It is a quick read and has beautiful pictures. This would be a great book for any child who loves butterflies!

The Adventures of Johnny Butterflyseed is a wholesome story for children and adults alike that educates on why it is so important to protect monarch butterflies from extinction.

Preservation and stewardship is very close to my heart and something I want to instill in my children. This is a fun way to teach about endangered species and what we can do to prevent further decline. The colorful pages and sweet characters make it approachable to all.

This story is wonderful in itself (and even taught me some things) but would be great incorporated into a lesson/activity with kids. The author has a website, johnnybutterflyseed.com where there are resources you can use to build a plan. I know this is something I will do with my little one when they are a bit older.

I want to thank Net Galley, Tarisa and Katie and Brey PA for the opportunity to read this book so I could provide an honest review.

A beautifully realistic glimpse into the environmental issues impacting butterflies.! Eloquently written with gorgeous illustrations as the main character looks for solutions with a little help from his friends.

Johnny Butterflyseed is very upset, as all the monarch butterflies are disappearing from his garden. Helped by his fairy friend Raven Silverwing, he decides and inspires children to become butterfly farmers and save the butterflies from extinction.

The Adventures of Johnny Butterflyseed is a beautiful story that shares a powerful environmental message. With this book, children, and adults will learn how to help our small colorful winged friends, as they lose a little more of their natural habitats everyday. Tarisa Parrish is a butterfly farmer herself, so she shares important and true information in this book through her characters.

The illustrations are colorful and a pleasure for the eyes. I found them to have a little Japanese Anime style. It is a very interesting book to look at and read, and young readers will surely enjoy it, learning about Nature preservation in the process.

I’m so excited to be in this book tour with #katieandbreypa Tarisa Parrish is not just a children’s author…. She’s an actual, real life butterfly farmer! How cool is that?!

She’s on a very important mission to save butterflies from extinction. Her book teaches children and parents the importance of butterflies and just how we can all help make that happen!

I loved sharing this with my daughter. Sofia learned all about butterflies and how caterpillars become these beautiful creatures in school and this book helped us connect those lessons to the real world.