The Secret Life of the Woolly Bear Caterpillar

by Laurence Pringle, Joan Paley (Illustrator)

Overview

Kids often spot woolly bear caterpillars creeping across the ground in fall, but these furry-looking creatures seem to disappear as quicklyas they pop up. Where do they come from in autumn, and where do theygo? In fact, they live throughout North America all year long. In vividstorytelling style, Laurence Pringle uncovers the secret life of the woollybear caterpillar, following one caterpillar as she feasts, tiny and hidden, inthe tall summer grass; molts and grows; then sets off on the fall journeywhere she's most likely to be seen. Packed with surprising details (did you know that woolly bears can survive freezing temperatures by producinga natural antifreeze?), this book will appeal to every child who's been luck yenough to spy one of these beloved caterpillars—and to anyone who'd like to.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620910009
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	04/01/2014
Series:	The Secret Life
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	800L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Laurence Pringle has written over 100 books for children, including BMP's Billions of Years, Amazing Changes and nine titles in the popular Strange and Wonderful series. Internationally, his books have sold more than three million copies. He is the recipient of Orbis Pictus Honor Award and a Lifetime Achievement Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and his work consistently receives recognition from the National Science Teachers Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. He lives in West Nyack, New York. Visit laurencepringle.com.

Joan Paley has been illustrated many children's books including Star of the Sea by Janet Halfmann and The Emperor Lays an Egg by Brenda Z. Guiberson, which was a School Library Journal Best Book. She lives in Florida.

Editorial Reviews

"The author of more than 100 children's books looks closely at a familiar creature. Naming but not otherwise anthropomorphizing this stealthy survivor, Pringle follows Bella the woollly bear through a "jungle of grasses, clovers, and wild flowers . . . Paley's colorful cut-paper and mixed-media illustrations show off Bella and her neighbors nicely . . . Straightforward and informative." —Kirkus Reviews

"Pringle (Scorpions!, 2013) informatively narrates the life of a banded woolly caterpillar called Bella, so named for its species, the Isabella tiger moth. . . Each page presents plenty of material for discussion, and an afterword offers more information on banded woolly caterpillars and a glossary of terms used in the text . . . " —Booklist

"In this picture-book equivalent of watching a nature documentary, Bella, a woolly bear caterpillar eats, molts, and eats again in a months-long journey through forests, gardens, and lawns. . . Colorful cut-paper drawings bring Bella and her world to life, emphasizing the texture of her fuzzy-looking black-and-orange body and gloriously displaying the wingspan of the tiger moth she becomes. Further information and a diagram of a woolly bear caterpillar are included in the back matter, all the better to satisfy insect-loving readers." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

04/01/2014
K-Gr 3—In this picture-book equivalent of watching a nature documentary, Bella, a woolly bear caterpillar eats, molts, and eats again in a months-long journey through forests, gardens, and lawns. Potential perils come in the form of a garter snake, a blue jay, and a passing car, though Bella gets through the dangers intact. Italicized insect terms are smoothly incorporated into the story, such as how the three pairs of her "true legs" attached to her thorax allow her to hold a leaf steady when she chews and help her climb. Colorful cut-paper drawings bring Bella and her world to life, emphasizing the texture of her fuzzy-looking black-and-orange body and gloriously displaying the wingspan of the tiger moth she becomes. Further information and a diagram of a woolly bear caterpillar are included in the back matter, all the better to satisfy insect-loving readers.—Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

2014-01-29
The author of more than 100 children's books looks closely at a familiar creature. Naming but not otherwise anthropomorphizing this stealthy survivor, Pringle follows Bella the woolly bear through a "jungle of grasses, clovers, and wild flowers," weaving in information about her food and feeding, body parts and life stages. She's rejected by a predatory blue jay and aided across a road by a helping hand. After finding a good winter hiding place among stones, the bristly red-and-black caterpillar curls up into a cocoon, molts one last time into a pupa and finally turns into an adult Isabella tiger moth. In extensive backmatter, Pringle refutes the myth that woolly bear caterpillars predict the severity of the coming winter. Words like setae and crochets, names for the insect's body parts, are italicized in context and defined in a glossary. Paley's colorful cut-paper and mixed-media illustrations show off Bella and her neighbors nicely. The plants and flowers are generic, but the animals are identifiable. The caterpillar's size can be judged against an illustration of a leaf and part of a human hand, but an actual measurement or scale would have been useful in the final diagram. Straightforward and informative. (Informational picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews