HOW DOES A BUTTERFLY GROW?

In this Fun with Flaps offering, a multitude of facts about butterflies is presented.

With the signature DK style of pages filled with captioned photos, this board book teaches youngsters about the variety of butterflies around the world, their life cycle, and what they eat. Highly patterned art in muted colors is used to the give the pages texture and fill in the backgrounds. Compositions are busy, with photos competing with digital art and text for readers’ attention. While flaps are touted on the cover, there are only eight in total, and they don’t appear on every double-page spread. The rush of images, graphics, and text in a variety of fonts makes for a dizzying reading experience for little ones, and even opening the flaps is not a satisfying experience, since what’s underneath looks similar to what’s pictured outside. While somewhat colloquial, much of the text is not geared to the needs of the board-book audience: The butterfly “feeds on the sweet nectar that’s in the flower heads.” A glossary is included at the back and features a few words of interest.

Visually overloaded.