Four pages for Flutter
Evafoundatinyeggonaleafduringagardenwalk.Thegardenershowedherhowtolookwithouttouching.‘Abutterfly'segg,’thegardenersaid.Evadrewitinhernotebookasasmalldot.Herfirstpagelookedalmostempty,butshegaveitalargetitle:‘TheBeginning.’
Onlatervisits,shewatchedcaterpillarseatingleavesonthesamekindofplant.Theirjawsworkedwhilethegardenswayedaroundthem.Evadrewacaterpillarwithaveryenthusiasticmouth.Thegardenerexplainedthatcaterpillarsneedfoodtogrowandshedtheirouterskinastheygetbigger.
Anotherdaythegardenerpointedoutachrysalis.Itdidn'tlookbusyfromtheoutside.Evanearlycalleditasleepingbag,butthegardenerexplainedthatthebodywaschanginginside.Wingsandotheradultpartsweredeveloping.Evaaddedanote:‘Quietoutside.Changinginside.’
Weeksofnotebookpageslater,Evawatchedanadultbutterflyvisitingaflower.Shecouldn'tknowwhetheritwastheonefromherfirstegg.Thatwasallright.Shehadlearnedthefourpartsofitsstory.Shedrewanegg,acaterpillar,achrysalis,andabutterflyinacircle.
Athomesheshowedthenotebooktoherlittlebrother.‘Whichisyourfavoritepage?’sheasked.Hechosethetinydotatthebeginning.Evasmiled.Anearlyemptypagecouldholdthestartofsomethingwonderful.
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Eva found a tiny egg on a leaf during a garden walk. The gardener showed her how to look without touching. ‘A butterfly's egg,’ the gardener said. Eva drew it in her notebook as a small dot. Her first page looked almost empty, but she gave it a large title: ‘The Beginning.’
On later visits, she watched caterpillars eating leaves on the same kind of plant. Their jaws worked while the garden swayed around them. Eva drew a caterpillar with a very enthusiastic mouth. The gardener explained that caterpillars need food to grow and shed their outer skin as they get bigger.
Another day the gardener pointed out a chrysalis. It didn't look busy from the outside. Eva nearly called it a sleeping bag, but the gardener explained that the body was changing inside. Wings and other adult parts were developing. Eva added a note: ‘Quiet outside. Changing inside.’
Weeks of notebook pages later, Eva watched an adult butterfly visiting a flower. She couldn't know whether it was the one from her first egg. That was all right. She had learned the four parts of its story. She drew an egg, a caterpillar, a chrysalis, and a butterfly in a circle.
At home she showed the notebook to her little brother. ‘Which is your favorite page?’ she asked. He chose the tiny dot at the beginning. Eva smiled. A nearly empty page could hold the start of something wonderful.
What we learned
A butterfly has four life stages. The caterpillar and butterfly are different stages of the same kind of animal.
