Arabella Miller's Tiny Caterpillar »

Clare Jarrett is the award-winning author-illustrator of several picture books, including THE BEST PICNIC EVER. She lives in Norfolk, England.

Keeping watch over a caterpillar leads to amazing surprises in a bright, buoyant read-aloud inspired by a children’s verse.

When Arabella Miller finds a tiny caterpillar, she brings him home and feeds him lots and lots of leaves. Soon the not-so-tiny caterpillar sheds his skin and disappears inside his chrysalis. Arabella misses her friend, but when he finally emerges, she is filled with wonder at the beautiful creature he has become. Clare Jarrett’s sweet story and vibrant illustrations weave details about a caterpillar’s transformation into this elaboration on the song "Little Arabella Miller."

Publishers Weekly

Jarrett (The Best Picnic Ever) adapts a finger rhyme (albeit one better known in her native Britain) and pairs it with floating illustrations to explore a caterpillar's transformation into a butterfly. Her heroine, Arabella Miller, brings home a small caterpillar, feeds it and builds it a home, and watches it change. The author/artist's lighthearted treatment involves bouncy, well-constructed verse that imparts plenty of information: "CRACK!/ His skin split all along his back./ And underneath it, big and baggy,/ was a new one, soft and saggy." Jarrett's full, round shapes and curved lines loosely recall Matisse; tissue paper cutouts and a bold springtime palette cinch the artistic reference. Unmentioned in the text, a pet dog helps Arabella gather leaves and waits by her side as she tends to her caterpillar. A final spread examines the life cycle of a butterfly; clear prose accompanies playful illustrations based on an insect in the swallowtail family and the Queen Anne's lace plant it prefers. Striking a balance between artistic feeling and scientific information, this handsome, oversize volume is particularly well suited for the preschool set. Ages 3-7. (Feb.)

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