Who would have thunk it? A butterfly. Still can't figure out how it got its name. Maybe it hangs around open butter churns. Who knows?
But a book about butterflies - with large glossy pictures. Who can resist? I do, I physically stop and watch when a butterfly crosses my path. It's a relatively rare occurence that it has retained its fascination lo all these years. (Uh, lo?)
And why isn't there a four-leaf clover butterfly?
La Times - A beautiful bug's life - and it's colorful history.
As is true of Sharman Apt Russell's "Anatomy of a Rose," her latest book, "An Obsession With Butterflies," is a rumination on beauty, passionately observed.
"Adding butterflies to your life is like adding another dimension," she writes, and during the course of this all-too-brief text reveals the splendor of this mythic insect — describing its relationship to the natural world, its amazing life cycle, eating and mating habits, coloring pattern and migratory behavior. She brings vast knowledge and a childlike wonder to her subject. Readers will gain a newfound appreciation for butterflies, and may very well race out the door afterward, filled with the hope of a sighting.
Article comments
1 - Louvenia Azzan
Dear Ms. Russell,
I have written a children's butterfly story re: the dangerous adventures of the caterpillar. Your "Tough Love" chapter was an inspiration to this, as well as your chapter "The Single Mom." I lived with both chapters for weeks until I had them to be able to put in my own words. However, I used your wonderful tap, tap, tapping like a drum analogy with the mother butterfly. Is this ok?
Would you pls email me back like yesterday as the story is going to print soon. I will be happy to send you a copy of the part I used. Also, I carefully mention you as a source and how in the "Endnotes" section at the end of the book.
Thanks for your quick reply, Louvenia, AKA: BLove