Gotta Go! Gotta Go!: A Picture Book (Sunburst Book) - Softcover

Swope, Sam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0374427860 ISBN 13: 9780374427863

Publisher: Square Fish, 2004

Synopsis

An incredible journey

"I don't know much, but I know what I know. I gotta go! I gotta go! I gotta go to Mexico!" The creepy-crawly bug doesn't know why she does what she does. She only knows she has to do it. But making the journey seems impossible for the slow-moving critter, who has no idea what or where Mexico is. Then an everyday miracle occurs, bringing a transformation that will help her fulfill her destiny. Each autumn, millions of Monarch butterflies migrate from the central and eastern United States and Canada to colonies in the mountains of Mexico, where they mate before flying north in the spring to lay their eggs. In simple, jaunty text and pictures, Sam Swope and Sue Riddle celebrate the amazing story of one of these intrepid bugs.

About this title

About the Author:

Sam Swope is the author of two previous picture books, The Krazees and The Araboolies of Liberty Street. He lives in New York City.

Sue Riddle lives in Providence, Rhode Island. Gotta Go! Gotta Go! is his first book.

From Booklist:

"I don't know much, but I know what I know. I gotta go! I gotta go! I gotta go to Mexico!" Through the experience of one tiny creepy-crawly, this small square book dramatizes the astonishing journey of the monarch butterfly, and the powerful instinct that drives it to fly as much as 3,000 miles from the U. S. to Mexico for the winter, then mate there and fly back north to lay its eggs. The small, uncluttered, line-and-watercolor pictures are set in lots of white space. The words are simple and urgent. Even preschoolers will feel the excitement about this most fragile of creatures that can fly so far and prove so strong. The miracle of the transformation is there on the page when the sturdy little insect emerges from the cocoon transformed into a butterfly, "orange and black and splendid," with gorgeous fluttering wings that nearly fill the page. Then there are pages where it flies and flies, and the butterfly is just a speck in the sky above farms and highways, forests and desert ("I am what I am and I know what I know, and make it or not, I gotta go!"). Like Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Booklist's 1999 Top of the List for Nonfiction, this is a story that brings the wonder of the natural world right up close to a preschooler, without condescension or distortion. The rhythmic storytelling bears repeated readings, and many kids will want to go on from here to find out more about this astonishing creature. Hazel Rochman

About this edition

• Publisher: Square Fish
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0374427860
• ISBN 13: 9780374427863
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Riddle Sue