Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

S is for Safari: An Alphabetical Adventure with Quickly, the Magic Spatula by Jeryl Abelmann and Miriam Kronish

Quickly, the Magic Spatula has returned in an engaging new book by award-winning authors, Miriam Kronish and Jeryl Abelmann. Illustrator Daniel J. Seward playfully portrays Quickly in white sneakers sporting a bright red ‘Q’ and brings Quickly, PanDora, and their new friend Ponnie to life with sparkling eyes and action poses. His animal illustrations are both accurate and charming.

After greeting us with a big “Hello!” Quickly explains that Ponnie, a spatula that he and his old friend PanDora met last year, has invited them to visit his country, South Africa. He will be their safari guide, driving their smiling green jeep as they make their way around the land to “visit the animals and learn their names” [each one representing a different letter of the alphabet] and “see the country [with sights representing a letter] and play some games.”

Kronish and Abelmann’s alphabet stories, which proffer a few simple facts about the animals and places, are written in the most delightful verse. Rhyming words are here, there, and everywhere! For example: “B stands for Buffalo…If you look at its back, you’ll find a tiny bird. No, it’s not absurd to find a bird. The oxpecker is its name. What a wonderful word! And the buffalo loves to be part of the herd.” Another favorite, “H stands for Hippo—Hippos love to play in water. Don’t you think they oughtta?” Then there is “Victoria Falls—where the water never stops falling, and the mists never stop rising. It’s not so surprising.” Finally, the safari party meets the Zebra, which “gallops like a horse, and is related to a donkey, of course!”

The safari is over. It’s time to go home. As a parting surprise, Ponnie gives his friends a recipe for the South African Pannekoek, or pancake, which Quickly shares with us.

Quickly’s safari adventure is a delightful way to introduce children to new vocabulary words, geographic information, and learn about African animals. The handy games make learning this new information fun and entertaining. And the captivating rhymes will have young readers giggling as they repeat the verses.

Next, children and adults will have a lot of fun with “Quickly’s Safari Adventure Coloring & Activity Book.” And, if you haven’t already read them, “Quickly, the Magic Spatula” and “Quickly’s Magical Pancake Adventure” will fill you in on the story of how Quickly came to life and his earlier adventures.

Quickly, the Magic Spatula

A surefire way to make a children’s book a favorite is to mix a bit of truth with a bit of magic, and that’s just what Jeryl Abelmann and Miriam Kronish have done in the award winning “Quickly: The Magic Spatula.” Chason Matthams’s illustrations further enliven the story with their unique design and bright color.

Big sister and younger brother, all grown up, are searching for mementos in the attic of their childhood home when they come upon a dusty box marked ‘kitchen utensils’. Pulling the cardboard flaps open, something catches their eyes, and they both shout “Quickly! It’s Quickly!” An old spatula—its metal bent and dulled, and the green paint on its handle almost peeled off. But in an instant, brother and sister are young again, once more in Mommy’s sunny kitchen.

Mommy’s delicious pancakes are sizzling in the pan, as always on Sunday mornings, and the children eagerly awaiting a plateful. Suddenly Mommy cried “Jeffrey! Please bring me the spatula—quickly!” Jeffrey grabs the sparkly, green-handled spatula and, running across the kitchen, hollers “Here’s Quickly, Mommy!” Four-year-old Jeffrey thinks the spatula was named Quickly!

Discovering that he has a name brings the spatula magically to life. Quickly, the spatula is now convinced that he possesses the magic to make Mommy’s pancakes taste better than ever. And sure enough, Quickly’s magic works!

For children as well as adults, giving life to an inanimate object can create magic in a story—or two or three. Quickly, the Magic Spatula gives us pause to consider the beloved objects in our daily lives that create magical memorable moments—a great way to start a conversation with children! The story is also a much needed reminder to busy adults just how special simple rituals can be to children and the memories that create can last a lifetime.

Be sure to follow Quickly’s continuing story in “Quickly’s Magical Pancake Adventure” and “S is for Safari: An Alphabetical Adventure with Quickly, the Magic Spatula.” Then have fun with “Quickly’s Safari Adventure Coloring & Activity Book.”

Quickly’s Magical Pancake Adventure

Miriam Kronish and Jeryl Abelmann’s lovable character, Quickly, the Magical Spatula, returns in Quickly’s Magical Pancake Adventure. In this story, his magic extends beyond helping Mommy make Silver Dollar pancakes in her sunny kitchen. Quickly decides to see the world and meet other spatulas who make different kinds of pancakes. But there is more magic at work in this book, with the power to pique young readers’ interest with not just an engaging story, but also what could become an enjoyable activity for the whole family!

Eager to begin his next adventure, Quickly wiggles out of the frame in which Jeffrey and his sister had placed him. He hops out the window and sets off on his adventure. Soon he meets up with a friendly fellow spatula, who introduces himself as Backburner, the Pancake Turner, or just Bernie. He is a pancake historian, on the lookout for new facts about pancakes, and invites Quickly to join him.

The new friends head down the road until they see a large colorful sign: “Calling All Spatulas to the First Annual Spatula Camp.” Heading for the Grand Exhibition Hall, they join a crowd of spatulas—of all shapes and colors—deciding which sessions to attend: pancake recipes and tips, pancake songs and stories, pancake makeup (like cherry cheeks and blackberry brows), or Great Chefs’ Pancakes, at which each chef will share a special recipe.

While at the camp, Quickly collects recipes from the chefs, while Bernie picks up griddling tips. Then they join a group of spatulas listening to PanDora tell the story of Pancake Day in the UK. Quickly muses about a world in which all people belong to one big, happy pancake-eating family. Inspired, he writes “A Pancake Poem” to share with his new friends.

Quickly suddenly realizes it is time to go home. In less time than it takes to say ‘Quickly, the Magic Spatula’, he lands on the kitchen counter (where, as you will see, the book’s respected illustrator, Chason Matthams, has laid out all the ingredients for Mommy’s Silver Dollar pancakes). Before Quickly climbs back into his frame, he compiles his collection of famous pancake recipes just for his readers including one from one of my favorite chefs, Jacques Pepin.

Young readers will be happy to know that “Quickly, The Magic Spatula” and the new (2016) “S is for Safari: An Alphabetical Adventure with Quickly, the Magic Spatula”, and the beautiful coloring/activity book, “Safari Adventure Coloring & Activity Book” are available for more fun and adventures.

December 28, 2016
The AURORA AFFAIR by Carolyn Haley

A psychedelic ride through a world of mystics and musicians, rock concerts and psychic powers with the car-racing supermodel, Madeline LaRue, in the driver’s seat, trying to make sense of it all.

Madeline has been summoned to New Atlantis, the estate of her twin sister’s boyfriend, rock superstar and cult leader, Dru Montclair. Upon her arrival, Madeline sees auras around the guests, including her former lover, turned roadie, Buck Williams, and the sinister promoter, Raoul Lamont, who, she intuits, is stalking Dru.

Despite her energy readings, Madeline resists her psychic abilities, and even more so when her sister, Blanche, asserts that Mad will destroy the evil encroaching on the rural Vermont compound.

That is until Madeline’s prophetic dreams and visions come true.

While re-examining her beliefs, Mad is also preoccupied with the concept of soul mates whom she believes stimulate her psychic powers. The only trouble is, she can’t determine whether her soul mate is Buck or Kit Douglas, the handsome jack-of-all-trades. Kit has the ability to set off her visions, along with her pheromones and sexual cravings. Both men are at times suspect, as is the enigmatic and arrogant Dru. Her sister’s boyfriend invades Mad’s dreams and forces mystical challenges on her, yet ultimately needs her power to keep the Evil One from destroying both him and his New Atlantean world.

Whether or not you believe in the supernatural and mystic philosophies, Haley’s story will thrill you with its feverish pacing, plot twists, and ever-unfolding action. Madeline makes a bewitching protagonist: multi-talented, free-wheeling, and quick-tempered. She’s equal parts skeptic and believer, seeking truth and power through the ritual of intimacy. However, the love scenes are never explicit or overlong, and just descriptive enough to imply a sacred sexuality. This restraint pairs well with an abundance of inspired language. The sky was “a Parrish blue pricked with stars,” the valley a “cauldron of liquid gold,” an aura that was “gas-burner blue.” Lovely stuff.

As suspense builds, the psychic warfare ratchets up. Madeline wants to leave New Atlantis but gets pulled back by indecision, persistent visions, and the chance to hide out while contemplating the nature of reality. Then, just as the compound returns to routine, Raoul’s psychic attacks come back with a vengeance, forcing Mad to not only accept her psychic powers but push them to their limits and beyond. This book is a pleaser for those who are drawn to fast action, fun, and a trip on the wild side.

December 22, 2016
ISLANDS by Sara Stamey – a contemporary thriller that combines the lure of the Caribbean with gritty reality

When anthropologist Susan Dunne goes to a Caribbean island to investigate a mysterious stone carving, she finds that it is not only the ancient past that haunts her, but a ghost from her closest family.

Susan is drawn to the islands by a crumpled letter from her murdered brother, who before his death made a find that could lead her to academic fame. If she can locate his discovery, she may be able to prove that a petro-glyph hundreds of years old is of African origin, predating the incursion of Columbus to the Caribbean. The combination of her professional dreams and the nightmare of John’s violent killing quickly pull her into the bloody heart of the region’s notorious voodoo cult. Seeking an old, wise professor, Phillip Holte, who may know where to find the petro-glyphs, she is aided and at times thwarted by John’s grieving girlfriend Laura, and by John’s worst enemy, possibly his killer, Victor Manden.

With Vic dogging her tracks and Laura watching from the sidelines, Susan, perilously naïve concerning the secrets of the island people, believes she is close to her goal when she finds and is befriended by Phillip. But she continually ignores the warnings of those who know better than she the danger she’s in. Almost too late she realizes that someone she has trusted is a force for savagery and suffering, pulling her into a morass of occult horror beyond her worst imagining. Before her island visit is over, Susan will have to confront the most primitive aspects of her own nature.

Author Sara Stamey has lived some of what she has created in the fictional Islands: she is a world traveler, who, like Susan and her Caribbean companions, is an avid scuba diver. Stamey knows the region, colorfully painting the searing sunlight, the sparkling clear underwater world viewed by divers seeking buried treasure, the ubiquitous sweet and sometimes doctored rum drinks, and the tight, tense lines drawn between island “natives” (actually former slaves) and the “continentals,” the name given to the minority whites, former plantation masters now trying to cynically exploit their properties as a glitzy tourist trap.

Mystical, romantic, intellectually and viscerally stimulating, Islands deftly depicts a woman’s encounter with deadly lies and the chance for true and lasting love.

December 22, 2016
A DANGEROUS DESCENT: A Sarah McKinney Mystery by Marian Exall – a contemporary cosmopolitan mystery

A hectic life, a missing daughter, love lost and found come together in this spellbinding mystery thriller, Marian Exall’s second book in the Sarah McKinney series, A Dangerous Descent.

Sarah McKinney, a witty, hard-working New Yorker, is whisked off to France to help her old mentor find his long-lost daughter in the second book of this thrilling mystery series.

Sarah McKinney was happy with her chaotic life as a mediator in New York, where the most complicated thing she had to deal with was her love life. When she meets up with an old mentor, she doesn’t expect the meeting to end with her hoping a plane and flying halfway across the world.

But hop that plane she does, to help out her mentor fulfill his promise to his dying wife: locate their estranged daughter living in France. But finding Chantal isn’t easy. She’s not where she’s supposed to be. With urgent business back home, Sarah’s mentor pleads with her to find his daughter. She agrees and with the help of an old flame, she’s off to locate the missing girl.

But finding Chantal proves more difficult than expected and Sarah finds herself chasing leads down dangerous paths.

Marian Exall’s A Dangerous Descent is a captivating mystery that skillfully keeps the reader glued to the page. The book starts out with a light tone that tricks readers into thinking they are following the witty escapades of a New Yorker, only to find the journey darkening and becoming much more dangerous as the story progresses.

But the immediate likeability of Sarah, as well as her touching relationships, keeps the novel positive. Readers will smile as often as they grip the seat of their chairs.

Indeed, Sarah’s narration is perhaps the best part of the novel, and she remains worth rooting for throughout the story. Her traumatic childhood has left her tougher than a bed of nails, and she keeps her wits about her during terrifying situations. Exall masters the characterization of Sarah, portraying her as a sharp, collected professional against the foil of Chantal’s bizarre disappearance.

Exall’s writing is sharp and well-paced, with natural dialogue and gorgeous descriptions of setting. So much so, the reader is bound to feel as if they are in France as well!

A Dangerous Descent is Book 2 of a thrilling mystery series with a soft spot for tender-hearted lovers.

December 16, 2016
SPECIAL AGENT FRANCESCA (Undercover FBI Book 1) by Mimi Barbour – entertaining wild ride

From the city that never sleeps to Sin City, Mimi Barbour’s “Special Agent Francesca: Undercover FBI” is a thrill-fest, rapid-paced investigative novel with a lot of heat.

Mimi Barbour takes her reader in a rush to Sin City, piling on the intrigue and mystery within the first few pages, and, of course, introduces FBI Agent Frankie Donovan. Miss Fran Murphy, an alias our heroine uses while posing as a new hotel owner in order to fight the thugs who threatened the last owner. All in the chase to get Mr. D, an evil and violent crime boss in the city that never sleeps.That isn’t all Frankie has on her back: part of her undercover background is Sean Collins, her fake fiancé, so-called body-guard, and all heart-throbbing desire. As an initial series of bad impressions melt away, along with Frankie’s rigid professional control, she is able to help Sean realize his deepest dreams.

Frankie is struggling to leave the shadow of her icy, overbearing, type-A mother behind in New York City while wrapping her head around the recent, sudden revelation that her father is actually alive and living in Las Vegas as a detective – with a wife and three more daughters. As they plunge into building the father-daughter bonds denied to them for more than twenty years, professional intrudes on the personal, and Frankie heads for Los Angles to investigate a pair of kidnappers for her father. Sean takes co-pilot, until Frankie lets loose a little more control, and their impromptu vacation heats up fast.

Author Mimi Barbour does not pull punches in the drama and keeps the tension wound, throwing Frankie, who deplores violence, into fight after fight, culminating in a prize-fight challenge that could put Frankie in way over her pretty head.

And she’s not the only one with mysteries to solve and confrontations to face: something is going on with Sean’s best friend, and he’ll bring all his experience as a psychologist to figure it out. Anticipation and action ride high and higher still in this rapid pace investigative novel, dangling the hope of happiness for Special Agent Francesca over the threat to her life.

Barbour professes to enjoy cop TV shows and that was what inspired her to create her FBI agent series. She placed the first in the series in the hotbed of Las Vegas, the gambling capital of North America. The story explodes with steamy scenes, gritty language, and a lot of action – a lot of page turning action in this entertaining debut.

December 16, 2016
ELANRAIGH: The VOW by S. A. Hunter – a high fantasy of a destiny to be fulfilled

The great northern forest of Elanraigh is sentient, but only one young noble lady, Thera, can hear its singing and its warning of approaching destruction.

With dreams of black sails, an old enemy returns to harry the shores of Allenholme and if Thera’s ducal father cannot form an alliance with the Ttmarini who share the love of Elanraigh, the attack will not end in the central forest. The last thing Thera wants is to leave her home in danger, but her parents are determined to send her to Elankeep where she can be safe, away from the fighting.

Because her aunt is the present Salvai to Elanraigh, Thera will have the opportunity to grow further into her gifts and develop as a woman. Against her desires, she agrees to go, but only after the Ttmarini arrive to confirm the alliance against the sapient Memteth. By this chance, Thera encounters the one who could share her spiritual destiny, should she choose.

S. A. Hunter plunges the reader into a world and narrative that both encourages them to look through more than human eyes, yet keeps the realities of human limitations in mind while facing overwhelming influences. Animals, trees, and incorporeal elementals become Thera’s allies, while she earns the respect and loyalty of the soldier-guards at Elankeep. Many of these soldiers are women, initially presented as almost common-place, an option for women with the will to fight. As Thera grows in awareness, so does the reader, to the very familiar imbalance of power between male and female.

Patience, humility and honesty form the core of Thera’s character even as the events and dangers facing her temper her strength. As the complications of adulthood and intrigue peel back Thera’s innocence, she will need that strength to face the challenges set-up for the sequel.

Although strictly presented as an enemy, S. A. Hunter introduces questions and potential inconsistencies about the Memteth raiders that allow for more than black and white, villains and hero-defenders. There are motivations that are not yet understood and secrets that still must be explored. Vividly depicting nature balanced between sea, mountains and forest, S. A. Hunter gives a story that will draw the reader in and leave them ready for more – for the next step of Thera’s growth into the Salvai of Elanraigh.

December 15, 2016
CREATURA (Book 1) by Nely Cab – Do Dreams Come True? YA Paranormal #Mortal

A young girl living in Los Fresnos, Texas, whose loss of control over her dreams sets her on a long journey to discover how hundreds of years of history between gods and humans will turn her life upside down in the first book of this paranormal young adult series.

Isis Martin, a high school junior just starting to think about college plans, is living with her single mother Claire, who separated from her father just before his death. Her biggest problems are her recent breakup with her first love Gabriel and her lack of sleep, the latter of which is caused by a recurring nightmare in which a terrifying and mysterious creature that returns every night to threaten her.

Frustrated with the nightmare, Isis confronts the creature, who surprises her by questioning why she has intruded on his realm. He teaches her about a history between humans and gods that she doesn’t want to believe – until he forces her to by proving himself to be real by showing up at her high school.

Everyone is intrigued by the mysterious and alluring new student, David, but Isis is more intent on getting away from him and his disturbing past. He, on the other hand, is hell-bent on figuring out how a typical girl can intrude on the divine realm in her sleep. David works against the prejudices built by hundreds of years of complicated and bloody history between the mortals and gods to try and understand Isis.

As David and Isis work together to figure out what her dreams mean, they are impeded by his meddling family, her well-meaning but nosy mom, and her ex, Gabriel, popping up at an inopportune time.

Cab’s first novel in her series has some of the expected elements in a typical teen paranormal romance and a few unpredictable developments. Her overarching plot about the long history between Greek gods and humans cleverly adds a new and unique twist to a familiar paranormal narrative.

Cab’s main character, Isis, shows herself to be tough and an independent thinker early on in the novel, which makes her an easy character readers will easily identify with. But, as is common with teen paranormal romance, the roles of the characters are clearly defined. Nevertheless, their romantic narrative has a sweet nature and more than a few affectionate moments that readers will appreciate.

An unexpected delight of the novel was the wonderful relationship between Isis and her mother, Claire. They have an amazing amount of care and adoration for each other, but they also treat each other with mutual respect and friendly nature of two gals helping each other sort through their complicated romances. The interactions between Isis and Claire provide entertaining reprieve from the rest of the plot.

Overall, Cab uses traditional romantic narratives to appeal to avid paranormal readers, and she makes it stand out by developing an entertaining history between divine beings and mortals.

This is our pick for young readers experiencing “Twilight” withdrawals and hungering to get their hands on a unique take on a familiar struggle between two lovers plagued by forces beyond their control.

December 12, 2016
The GIRL and the CLOCKWORK CAT by Nikki McCormack – Captivating YA Steampunk

It’s Victorian England and Maeko is a young street kid with a talent for pick-pocketing and a drive to figure out where she belongs. When she comes across a little cat with an unusual enhancement on its leg, she follows it – right onto a murder scene.

The Girl and the Clockwork Cat by Nikki McCormack is a charming Young Adult novel that offers up an intriguing mystery while adding a fun Steampunk twist. Set in Victorian London, the book leads the reader through a murder investigation and introduces the puzzling, quirky Clockwork Cat. But more than that, the novel deals with the struggles of growing up through the eyes of a scrappy girl who must deal with more crap than the average teenager.

Maeko, separated from her mother at the tender age of seven, has lived on the streets with the notorious band of ruffians known to the police and upper-crust society as the “street rats.” Maeko is valued for her pick-pocketing and lock-picking skills in this group. In this dangerous world, she resigns herself to trusting no one but her mentor, Chaff. When she and Chaff are pursued by police during a robbery, they get separated. She hides in an alleyway and comes face-to-face with a friendly cat with an intriguing clockwork leg.

As she seeks a better source of shelter for herself and the cat, Maeko meets a family of musicians who seem harmless enough, but when Maeko winds up in police custody again, she fears for the fate of the cat and its valuable leg. Luckily she escapes and tracks the cat right onto the scene of a double murder. It’s then she pairs up with the musicians’ son, Ash, to once again escape police custody to prove their innocence.

McCormack’s writing is clear and captivating as she creates in Maeko a likable, empathetic character who is learning the art of growing up: who to trust, how to care for others without hurting herself, and how to handle more than one romantic urge. In Ash and Chaff, McCormack gives us two extremely charismatic characters who are vying for Maeko’s attention and caring for her safety. It’s so much fun!

Though the novel is Y/A, the endearing characters, engaging mystery, and insightful writing moves us to recommend this novel to all audiences.

December 6, 2016
JANE SINCLAIR by Tom Edwards – 1800s romantic adventure

A rich romantic adventure set in late 1800s England that is suitable for Young Adults and fans of Romantic fiction, “Jane Sinclair” touches on personal themes of success and failure interwoven with major social and economic issues of the era.

The tale’s heroine, Jane, is the only child of a Hampshire farming couple that dote on her and offer her every opportunity for education. Clearly exceptional, the girl soaks up learning so that by the time she encounters the upper-class Charles Cholmondelay, destined for study at Oxford, she proves herself his intellectual equal while charming his heart.

However, his father, the brutal Sir Richard, is determined his son will have nothing to do with a commoner; his threats to her family cause Jane to run away to London, where, desperate and penniless, she fortuitously winds up in the household of a kindly man named Bob. Bob will all but adopt Jane, and, impressed by her honesty and intelligence, will help to set her up in a small business and, ultimately, in the management of a garment factory. There Jane shows her considerable entrepreneurial and leadership skills, and, recalling her own humble origins, demonstrates that she is well ahead of her time in wishing for her factory workers to have basic rights and to be treated more humanely—a cause which is ahead of its time.

Making a name for herself as the lone female in a high-level business position, Jane meets again with Charles, now graduated and ready to work as a lawyer. They plan to marry soon, but Charles decides he needs one last adventure before he settles down. He sets off to sea with friends, while Jane goes to France and to inspect and purchase a new exotic clothing line. She also develops a friendship with members of the Suffragette movement and shows herself an admirable public speaker on their behalf. When she hears that Charles and his friends have been shipwrecked, though, her idyllic world collapses and she nearly dies from despair. Charles meanwhile is the captive of ruthless pirates, and escape seems all but hopeless.

The author of this intricately layered saga, Australian Tom Edwards, is himself an artist and adventurer; the scenes he depicts of Charles at sea doubtless come from his own experiences in the Royal Navy, sailing around the world with friends in a small boat, and living in many unusual locales.

On nearly every page of his tightly constructed story he demonstrates the care he has taken with historical detail, down to the soap brand Jane will use, the clothing she chooses to wear and manufacture, and even the toilets, or “WCs,” she insists on providing for her workers. The dialogue and use of idiomatic phrases also show much care, as does Jane’s a brush with a real person, Mrs. Goulden, mother of the noted English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst.

Jane Sinclair by Tom Edwards deftly combines an entertaining and well-conceived rags-to-riches story from the female viewpoint, with a passionate tale of love lost and regained, a stirring vision of manly exploits on the high seas, and a respectful acknowledgment of the ideals of the early feminist movement.

December 6, 2016
MY BUTTERFLY COLLECTION: On the Wings of a Butterfly by Stevanne Auerbach – Nature Books, Biology, Entomology

There are approximately 20,000 species of butterflies around the world, and this enlightening book is a compilation of all things butterfly. As well as delivering in-depth explanations of butterfly life cycles and species, the author, Stevanne Auerbach, PhD, teaches us that specific species are dependent on specific plants, and that butterflies need both host plants for caterpillars and nectar plants for the adult butterflies. Perhaps the most important lesson is that butterflies of the world are now dependent on us, the human species, for their very survival.

To help readers become butterfly protectors, the author provides lists of suggested plants gardeners can grow to nurture butterflies dependent on species and geography. After reading this book, no gardener will look at caterpillars in the same way again, because killing a caterpillar means destroying a beautiful butterfly, moth or bee.

The largest words on the cover of this book are My Butterfly Collection, which might cause readers to expect a book about an old-fashioned collection of preserved butterfly specimens on pins. Instead, this book is a tribute to the lives and worth of butterflies, as well as a celebration of the beauty and symbolism of butterflies through history. The “butterfly collection” actually refers to the author’s extensive personal journey, which led to her assembly of all this butterfly information, and objects decorated with butterfly motifs.

The book contains lists of endangered and threatened species, as well as many color photographs of specific butterflies, most by famous photographer Kjell B. Sandved. The interconnection of butterflies and environmental health is emphasized in a moving foreword by David Seaborg, a prominent evolutionary biologist and founder/director of the World Rainforest Fund.

Readers are treated to explanations about how butterflies have symbolized hope, transformation, and resurrection throughout the ages. The author even describes how she went through her own personal metamorphosis to become a lighter, healthier, happier individual.

Bright art, illustrations, and paintings decorate the pages, which are also enriched with poems and literary excerpts from a variety of authors, including the author of this book. Some pieces are inspirational and uplifting; a few are eloquent, but sad, such as a reference to a collection of butterfly art and poetry by Jewish children imprisoned in a concentration camp.

This rich collection includes extensive lists of organizations, gardens, and butterfly books for adults and children, field guides, butterfly garden books, and websites that the butterfly devotee can use to find more information. The biographies of the many experts who contributed to this book are listed in the back pages, along with a list of butterfly species around the world that may go extinct; a sobering reminder that butterflies are an indicator species of the health of our planet, and the fate of these magnificent “flowers on wings” is up to us.

My Butterfly Collection: On the Wings of a Butterfly by Stevanne Auerbach, is a fascinating compendium of all things butterfly that educates and illuminates to its readers that “The health of the planet rests on the wings of the butterfly.”

December 2, 2016