Milkweed plants serve monarch butterflies in several ways, from being the ideal home for eggs, to feeding the newly hatched caterpillars, to providing the foundation from which the chrysalis will hang. Poetic language and glowing acrylic and pastel illustrations highlight the symbiotic relationship between plant and insect, while traveling through the rotation of seasons, growth, and migration. When spring re-appears, the cycle begins anew as “Roots reach down. / A tip of green presses out and up, toward warmth and light. / Milkweed’s first spring leaf unfurls. / Far to the south, in Mexico, Monarch rides the wind toward it.” (Ages 6–10)

One of nature's most perfect relationships

Every spring the monarch butterfly migrates thousands of miles in search of the ideal milkweed plant. When she finds it, she lays her eggs on the plant, so when each egg hatches, the baby caterpillar can feed on the milkweed leaves. The milkweed plant then provides the perfect protection as the caterpillar turns into one of nature's wonders, a chrysalis, before transforming into an even greater wonder: a monarch butterfly. And once the newborn butterfly soars away, the milkweed seeds fly away on the wind and start this cycle over again.

The exacting prose and jewel-toned illustrations echo the harmony of monarch and milkweed in this carefully researched book, explaining one of nature's most spectacular displays in a refreshingly simple manner.