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Book Review – The Girl Who Drew Butterflies

February 19, 2022 by Karen Filed Under: Book / Book Reviews Leave a Comment

Book Review – The Girl Who Drew Butterflies

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science
by Joyce Sidman
5 out of 5 stars

What an amazing book! I learned so much about things that I never really had an interest in……….bugs, caterpillars, and butterflies. Of course, I like butterflies. Who doesn’t? But to say I’m interested in entomology would be a stretch. But that is what is so great about this book. You don’t have to be interested in entomology to learn what a wonderful woman in history Maria Merian was.

I stumbled across this book in my library as I was cutting through the juvenile section to go to another section. I only saw the spine of the book which caught my eye. As you can see from my main photo at the top the hardcover is designed to look like a brown leather book with gold embossing. There is an actual dust jacket to the book that is beautiful as well but I didn’t know that until I looked it up on bookshop.org to put the link above. My library had removed the dust jacket. I’m definitely ordering the book to add to my collection of kids’ books.

One of the most fascinating gems of this book to me is the fact that she was such a pioneer in natural history/science and science artistry. Women during her time were not supposed to have professions. She also traveled from her native Germany where she was born in the mid-1600s to Suriname (South America). If you are familiar with naturalists in history then you would be interested to know that Mark Catesby and John James Audobon were inspired by her.

Although this book is categorized for grades 5-7 and ages 10-12 years it is definitely a book that an adult can read as it is in no way too juvenile. I had never heard of her before so the entire book was fascinating. But the most beautiful thing to me is the actual artistry of the book and its graphic design. From the photography taken by the author to the fonts used to the historical insets and Maria’s watercolor images placed throughout the book, it is stunning from cover to cover. Well crafted and well written it makes me want to learn more about Maria!

FROM BOOKSHOP.ORG
Bugs, of all kinds, were considered to be “born of mud” and to be “beasts of the devil.” Why would anyone, let alone a girl, want to study and observe them? One of the first naturalists to observe live insects directly, Maria Sibylla Merian was also one of the first to document the metamorphosis of the butterfly. In this visual nonfiction biography, richly illustrated throughout with full-color original paintings by Merian herself, the Newbery Honor-winning author Joyce Sidman paints her own picture of one of the first female entomologists and a woman who flouted convention in the pursuit of knowledge and her passion for insects.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joyce Sidman is today’s foremost nature poet for children. Accolades for her books include two Caldecott Honors, a Lee Bennett Hopkins Award, the Claudia Lews Award, and many stars and Best of lists. For her body of work, she won NCTE’s Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. In her home state of Minnesota, she teaches poetry writing to school children and walks through the woods with her dog Watson. You can also find her on Instagram.

Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
Booklist Editor’s Choice
Chicago Public Library Best of 2018
Kirkus Best Book of 2018
2018 Bulletin Blue Ribbon Book
Junior Library Guild Selection
New York Public Library Top 10 Best Books of 2018

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Finished the final art project. Picked a few new c Finished the final art project. Picked a few new colors different from my practice post. 

The brush lettering is done by an @ecolineworld brush marker in Deep Orange and Mahogany. The @sakuraofamerica black Aqualip pen for the floral borders. 3 Sakura Glaze pens and 1 @pentelofamerica Fude Touch Brush Sign pen in Yellow Ochre for the smaller lettering.

I used watercolor paint to fill in the doodles and it worked perfectly. 

This paper is smooth and great too but I have no idea what it is. I only have a few loose sheets of it.

PS - If I could write everything in a Glaze or Aqualip pen I would. I love them so much.

#LetteringPractice #Lettering #Calligraphy #BrushLettering #SakuraGlaze #SakuraAqualip #PentelFude #AutumnToDoList #markerillustrator #penlovers #handlettering #markerillustration #brushpendrawing #brushpenart #handletter #royaltalensecoline #talensecoline #ecolinebrushpens #ecolinebrushpen #autumn #autumnmood #autumnstyle #autumnvibes #autumncolors
Well, here's how everything I made in my 7-week be Well, here's how everything I made in my 7-week beginner wheel pottery class at @centerfortheartspc turned out when it came out of the kiln. Glazes are funny.......you never know how they are going to react. You could have put it on too thin, too thick, not mixed it up enough before you dipped your pottery in, or a million of things when chemical reactions and heat get involved. All of those things happened to me here.

The yellow/white piece cracked in the kiln. Oh well. They didn't turn out exactly as I thought, but not bad for my first try. I was going for a pride rainbow cup and that didn't really work out and the fish I carved on the bottom of a saucer for @stringerbellthecat got covered up with the thick glaze.

#WheelPottery #PotteryClass
I am practicing some lettering tonight with thanks I am practicing some lettering tonight with thanks to @colleenpastoor for the idea templates. 

I've really got to get less shaky. Not sure if I'm going too fast or too slow. 

What I liked about the hey pumpkin lettering on the left was the @pilotpenusa Futayaku Double-Sided Brush Pen Fine / Medium in Black Ink. It gave a bold line but I need to practice more on the thin lines. 

On the to do list I used the same Pilot pen for the title and the other end of the pen for the subtitle. But what was really great here was the @sakuraofamerica black Aqualip pen for the floral borders. It just consistently lays down a glossy and raised black line that never smears when dry even when I filled in some of it with @crayola marker. I used a Sakura Glaze pen in green #830 for the alternating list items. It's hard to see in this first photo but it's perfect. I used a bronze fountain pen ink loaded into a @kuretakezig_usa Karappo Felt Tip Pen with Fine Wick for the other alternating list items. 

I think tomorrow I'm going to try it all over again with a different ink for the bronze lettering on the list and maybe no markers but use watercolor paint instead to fill in the drawings.

This paper is smooth and great too but I have no idea what it is. I only have a few loose sheets of it.

PS - If I could write everything in a Glaze or Aqualip pen I would. I love them so much.

#LetteringPractice #Lettering #Calligraphy #SakuraGlaze #SakuraAqualip #KuretakeKarappo #PilotFutayaku #AutumnToDoList #HeyPumpkin #CrayolaMarkers
If you aren’t starting your morning off from a r If you aren’t starting your morning off from a rainbow 🌈 Dolly mug then what are you even doing with your life? 

Yes, I drink my coffee through a straw to keep the pearly whites white 🦷. 

2nd favorite mug I own. 1st goes to my Ruth Bader Ginsburg mug. #RainbowDolly #Dolly #DollyParton #RBG #CoffeeMug #CoffeeMugsOfInstagram
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Hey y'all! I'm Karen, a Gulf Coast of Florida based purveyor of Southern sass. I'm an Indiana Jones & Anthony Bourdain wannabe. I'm introverted and usually found with my nose in a book and pen/pencil in hand. I'm addicted to yoga, lip gloss, dumplings, noodles, and have an intense love for Scotland and Paris. I work in a library but my side hustle is teaching about safer skincare and cleaner cosmetics. It's been said I'm a little bit country and a little bit rock 'n roll. Read More…

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