Meet Jack Blackberry

Last week over dinner my friend, Luciana, shared about the fun she and her daughter had this summer as they found a monarch caterpillar, brought it home, and watched it transform into a butterfly before their very eyes. Now, this is the stuff that homeschool moms live for, and I guess my excitement was evident. Luciana promptly offered to take the boys and me out in search of a caterpillar to call our own. Yesterday, as a prelude to our formal school year, we set forth into the Illinois wild in search of milkweed and monarch caterpillars.

Okay, okay . . . we drove to a field and searched the milkweed growing near the fence line. We knew we might be a little too late in the season, but we were hopeful. After searching several plants to no avail, we started discussing lunch plans. As we chatted, Luciana's daughter, Isa, took one more look under a milkweed leaf and found our little Jack Blackberry just sitting there.

We gently removed Jack and his milkweed plant to bring him home. He chomped away at his leaf while we ate hamburgers. He even gave us a scare--leaving his leaf and climbing a few feet away to a nearby cabinet. We fortified Jack's habitat to ensure we didn't lose him again and placed him near a window. And we waited.

In the meantime, we sketched Jack and his milkweed in our nature journals, checking on him constantly, inviting our neighbors over to see him, telling complete strangers like the grocery clerk and librarian about him, freaking out about whether his behavior is normal, and studying up on the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly, using books from the library. Our two favorite books so far:

Monarch and Milkweed (Frost and Gore) - A simply gorgeous picture book describing the life cycle of both Monarch and milkweed and how their lives intertwine. Simple, but informative. Great for younger readers.

An Extraordinary Life: The Story of a Monarch Butterfly (Pringle) An in- depth look at the Monarch's life cycle. Beautifully illustrated. A lot of text so may not be suited to the very young reader. Includes instructions for caring for a caterpillar at home.

Also very good resources: Monarchs (Lasky) and The Life Cycle of a Butterfly (Kalman)

A very special thanks to Luciana and Isa for finding Jack Blackberry!