Butterflies & Friendly Ghosts in These Fantastic Children’s Books

And here’s another sweet ghostly picture book! Maybe I should’ve saved it for Halloween roundups, but it pairs so well with my previous new release pick. Little Ghost has lived in the same house with his mom for a hundred years, but he’s never once tried to make friends with any of the neighbors. He’s too shy, and he worries he might scare them. When a new girl moves in next door, however, he can’t help but notice they have a lot in common. He so wants to be her friend. Halloween is the next day, so he hatches the perfect plan: He’ll dress up for Halloween and pretend to be a trick-or-treater! The two hit it off, but how will Little Ghost continue the friendship after Halloween?

María lives in a brand new country, and on the first day of school, a gift arrives on her windowsill from Mexico: a mariposa. The butterfly carries the memory of her old home on its wings, and it helps her feel more brave. Feeling the butterfly’s magic within her, María spreads her love with kind actions on her way to school. But all that magic flees at school, and she loses her confidence. At recess, she remembers the butterfly within her and decides to be brave. This is a beautiful, compassionate picture book about immigration, starting school, and making friends. Back matter includes an author’s note about magical realism and her journey from Mexico to the United States, as well as facts about butterfly migration.

This gorgeously illustrated picture book describes a different aspect of migration. Lucía lives in Mexico and loves her home and watching the butterflies migrate. When Papá has to leave to work farther north, she despairs. He comforts her by telling her he’s following the butterflies. When they return home for the winter, so will he. As the seasons pass, Lucía anxiously awaits the monarch butterflies’ return. This is a stunning and lyrical picture book.

Now for a nonfiction picture book! This beautifully illustrated and poetic picture book follows the life cycle of monarch butterflies. Each page spread has a lyrical section and a prose paragraph with more details. It outlines the butterfly’s lifespan from egg to chrysalis to migration. It’s one of my favorite nonfiction titles about butterflies.

There aren’t as many new middle grade titles about butterflies, but I really enjoyed this one. Fifth-grader Sammie wants to be a biologist when she grows up. She’s devastated when her family moves from their home by a nature preserve to a small New England town, but she soon finds a natural habitat to explore — the yard in a nearby abandoned home, which she and a boy she meets there call Winghaven. While she wasn’t planning to make friends and wanted to explore the field by herself, she and Bram, who loves birds, soon make friends, and the two decide to study the monarch butterflies, which are endangered.

What should you do after reading so many great picture books about ghosts? Put together this ghostly puzzle. $16+

I have seen very few butterflies this year, which is surprising. We went to a park over the weekend, where they have several gardens, and I didn’t see a single butterfly. Anyone else seeing fewer butterflies?

If you’d like to read more of my kidlit reviews, I’m on Instagram @BabyLibrarians, X @AReaderlyMom, Bluesky @AReaderlyMom, and blog irregularly at Baby Librarians. You can also read my Book Riot posts. If you’d like to drop me a line, my email is [email protected].

All the best,
Margaret Kingsbury