This year, the theme for kids summer reading is Plant a Seed, Read, so let’s learn more and celebrate a beautiful, transforming creature who pollinates our gardens—the butterfly. Find books and resources below to explore.
Discover facts about monarch butterflies
About the monarch butterfly
- Scientific classification: Danaus plexippus [dah-knee-us plehx-ip-us]
- Family: Danaidae of milkweed butterflies [dahn-ay-day]
- Scientific order: Lepidoptera [leh-pih-dahpt-era]
- Migration: The monarch butterfly exists around the world (North, Central, and South America). In North America, the monarch butterfly migrates in big groups in the fall, south to California, Florida, and Mexico each winter.
- Wing color: Adult monarch butterflies have reddish-brown wings, with black veins and black borders with two rows of white dots. The bright orange color warns predators that the monarch is poisonous. The poison comes from the monarch’s food source, a plant called milkweed.
- Extinction: Climate change disrupts the butterfly’s cycles of reproduction and migration. Also, removing milkweed plants stops the monarch’s food supply. These contribute to the risk of the monarch’s extinction.
Key terms to know
- Migration: Movements of animals from one place to another, often over large distances, at regular times of the year.
- Milkweed: A flowering plant. The only plant where monarchs lay their eggs. Monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed leaves.
- Extinct: No longer existing.
Sources
- King, Madeline. “Monarch butterfly.” World Book Student, 2026, www.worldbookonline.com/student-new/#/article/home/ar758538. Accessed 28 May 2026.
- “Extinct.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extinct. Accessed 28 May 2026.
Read these books
Explore these online resources
Subscription-based resources available with your Oak Park library card & PIN
- Creativebug: To watch butterfly-related arts and crafts videos, search “5 ways to make a butterfly.”
- National Geographic Kids: To find digital magazine articles, ebooks, and videos on butterflies, search “butterflies.”
- PebbleGo (preschool-grades 3) and PebbleGo Next (grades 3-5): To start exploring, search “butterflies.”
From around the web
- Annual Life Cycle Wheel: Keep track of where monarchs are migrating by using this calendar wheel from Journey North!
- Are the Numbers Up or Down: Read this article by Lepidopterist Kathryn Hokamp, from the Butterfly Pavilion, about the overwintering of monarch butterflies and what is happening to them in California.
- ASL Information About Monarch Butterflies: Watch this fun, educational video created by the National Mall, Memorial Parks, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to learn more about these wonderful creatures.
- Climate 101 with Bill Nye: In this short film, Bill Nye narrates the basics of climate change.
- Illinois Monarch Project: Learn about the Illinois Monarch Project, a statewide initiative to conserve the breeding and feeding habitat of the monarch butterfly and other regional pollinators.
- JourneyNorth: Monarchs are nearing the northern limits of their breeding grounds. Keep reporting your observations of adult monarchs, eggs, larvae, and milkweed.
- Monarch Butterflies and Climate Change: A World Wildlife Foundation study assessing the vulnerability of monarch butterflies, specifically in North America.
- Your Guide to Talking with Kids of All Ages About Climate Change: Talking about climate change with your young one can be overwhelming. Read this article to learn how to best approach the subject with your child, tween, or teen.
- Journey North: Track the progress of monarch butterflies migrating north.