Dragonfly Beetle Butterfly Bee

128 pp. From the jeweled hues of a butterfly's wings to the industrious lifestyles of beetles, no one captures insects more richly or artfully than Maryjo Koch. With the gentle wit and remarkable precision that have made her previous illustrated nature studies so popular, Koch offers a remarkable perspective on the animal kingdom...in miniature. The often invisible world of insect life, thrumming beneath our feet and high above our heads, is revealed here as to an outsider visiting a private, secret land. Weaving instructive text about metamorphosis, locomotion, pollination, camouflage and migration with lyrical selections of poetry and prose from William Shakespeare, Tennyson and others, Dragonfly Beetle Butterfly Bee informs as it entertains. Maryjo Koch trains her naturalist eye and artistic sensibility on the leaping bounds of the hot-footed Wolf Spider, the file-like music of the grasshopper's mating song, the sugar-sensitive feet of the Red Admiral Butterfly and the scuba-diving plunges of the fierce Diving Beetle after its prey. An exquisite art book as well as a treasure trove of facts and amusing observations, this luscious volume is perfect for art lovers, naturalists, teachers, children and everyone fascinated by the intriguing and varied world of insects.