Max and the Milkweed
Grades PreK-3
Written and Illustrated by: Auggie Grand
ISBN: 979-8218392079
Recommended Reading
Max is a young boy who strikes an unlikely friendship with a monarch butterfly named Lilly. Upon meeting, Lilly asks Max for help, inviting him plant milkweed so she can lay her eggs on it the following spring.
In a world filled with instant gratification, this book highlights how change happens over time and that we sometimes we need to wait patiently for those changes to occur. Through a mixture of illustration and photography, the story explains the lifecycle of monarch butterflies (and plants). Max plants the seeds and as the story follows the seasons, he keeps checking to see whether the milkweed has grown.
When spring finally arrives and Lilly returns to lay her eggs, Max soon watches metamorphosis in action as new butterflies emerge.
Seasonal Changes
This is a wonderful book to teach young children about the four seasons and how our natural environment changes throughout the year. Not only are there visual cues like leaves changing color in the fall, but we start to see how many insects and animals change behaviorally or physically during each season, from migrating to warmer climates during the fall to giving birth to offspring in the spring.
After you read the book, share more about the amazing journey of monarch butterflies migrating each October to Mexico, flying over 3,000 miles across North America. They return north in the spring to lay their eggs on milkweed, with four generations of butterflies emerging over the course of one summer. Now that’s an incredible lifecycle!
Plant a Butterfly Garden
Unfortunately, monarch butterfly populations have declined over recent years due to climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use, and they are now listed as an endangered species. One way we can help is by planting milkweed. Did you know that milkweed is the only plant that monarch butterflies will lay their eggs on and that monarch caterpillars eat?
Watch metamorphosis unfold in your own schoolyard or at home by planting a butterfly garden. Find a space—whether it’s a raised garden bed or a little patch of unused soil—and plant some milkweed seeds. Learners will get to watch not only the plant lifecycle from seed to sprout to full-grown milkweed, but they’ll see how butterfly eggs hatch and transform into caterpillars and ultimately beautiful pollinators!
This can be not only a wonderful service-learning and schoolyard beautification project, but a great experience for students to watch change occur before their very eyes. Plus they are contributing to monarch butterfly conservation efforts by creating new habitat, breeding grounds, and food sources!
Learn more about monarch butterflies and their reliance on milkweed in this article from the National Park Service.
PLT Activities
Explore seasons, lifecycles, pollinators, gardens, and more with activities from Project Learning Tree!
Consider pairing Max and the Milkweed with these hands-on activities from PLT’s Trees & Me: Activities for Exploring Nature with Young Children:
- Best Buds
- Fall for Trees
Use this book with the following activities from PLT’s Explore Your Environment: K-8 Activity Guide / Explora tu Ambiente: Guía de Actividades K-8:
- A Tree’s Life / La Vida de un Árbol
- Neighborhood Naturalist (formerly Backyard Safari) / Naturalista del Patio
- Bursting Buds / Brotes
- Did You Notice? / ¿Te Diste Cuenta?
- Here We Grow Again / Aquí Volvemos a Crecer
- Charting Biodiversity / Graficando la Diversidad
- Signs of Fall / Señales de Otoño
- Web of Life / Telaraña de la Vida
- Improve Your Place / Mejora tu Lugar
Megan Annis
Megan Annis
