In the Middle Ages, people believed that insects were evil, born from mud in a process called spontaneous generation. Maria Merian was only a child, but she disagreed. She watched carefully as caterpillars spun themselves cocoons, which opened to reveal summer birds, or butterflies and moths. Maria studied the whole life cycle of the summer birds, and documented what she learned in vibrant paintings.

This is the story of one young girl who took the time to observe and learn, and in so doing disproved a theory that went all the way back to ancient Greece.

This book was recognised in the Picture Book category by the Georgia Children's Book Award. It was recognised in the Ages 7-10 Years category by the Capitol Choices Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens.

This book has been graded for interest at 5-8 years.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2017 by Henry Holt & Company Inc .

Margarita Engle is a Cuban American poet, novelist, and journalist whose work has been published in many countries. She is the author of young adult nonfiction books and novels in verse, including The Surrender Tree , a Newbery Honor Book; The Poet Slave of Cuba ; The Firefly Letters ; and Tropical Secrets . She lives in northern California. Julie Paschkis has illustrated many books for young readers. She lives in Seattle, Washington.