Alas I'm afraid I didn't for some reason or other connect with the characters. The best I can say being I found myself intrigued with the mysterious elderly woman who, seeming to know many aspects of her life despite the fact they haven't met before, approaches Nina in the London Library. Research by scientists at Butterfly Conservation confirms that the long-term population trend of some of our most charismatic insects is indeed downward, with more than three-quarters of the UK’s butterflies and two-thirds of larger moths in decline. This summer is proving good for butterflies so far because it follows two hot, sunny summers, allowing their numbers to build up over the seasons.

Butterfly Summer by Anne-Marie Conway (9781409538592 Butterfly Summer by Anne-Marie Conway (9781409538592

Letting part of your garden go wild, with nettles, thistles, grasses and other “weeds”, will provide a place for caterpillars to feed and pupate, ensuring you have a new generation of butterflies later on The plot is much alike a minestrone (rather than a gourmet dish), only, one cooked with whatever was left in the fridge. Unplanned, or made up along the way in a rush, by throwing in a pot ingredients, attempting to create its flavour. It never pays off.

Two books within one. For the main part The Butterfly Summer is the contemporary story of Nina Parr and Keepsake, the magical home that is her birthright. Interspersed with her story is that of her grandmother, Theodora aka Teddy.

Butterfly Summer by Anne-Marie Conway - review - The Guardian

This book tells the story of Nina Parr and especially the young woman discovering part of her family she has never known. What happened in the past and why is it all connected to Keepsake a mysterious house in Cornwall?! UT all starts when Nina meets a woman she doesn’t know in the library. That woman knows her and she wants Nina to discover her family’s legacy. Nina never knew her dad George Parr, who died on a jungle expedition. In addition to that she is divorced already, married at 19 and is now still friends with Sebastian.As Nina begins to unravel her previously unaware of family secrets, the reader also learns more about Teddy – her past, her experiences and her connection with a house called Keepsake. Thanks to Butterfly Conservation for letting us use their images throughout this article. For more information on UK butterflies and how you can help them, please visit Butterfly Conservation.org. Here you will find a wealth of information to help you find and identify butterflies and moths.

Butterfly Identification and Facts - Woodland Trust Common UK Butterfly Identification and Facts - Woodland Trust

There are just so many ways that you can get creative with bugs and butterflies here’s just a few to try Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments Although fluidly written, this book is not an easy read. At all times I had the impression of getting tangled in the scattered thoughts of the author, caught up in millions of tiny string thoughts inside a room full with more. Did I want to be there? No. Persuading butterflies to choose your garden is relatively simple: provide plants that produce the nectar on which the adults will feed It tool me a few days to get into The Butterfly Summer but once I did I enjoyed it. I liked that Nina and Teddy’s stories were told in between the other so it wasn’t all told at once and left you wanting more while you learned more about one of the women. And even though I figured out Teddy’s secret it didn’t make me like the story any less.Nina is also still missing the enigmatic woman who lived in the top floor flat of their house Mrs.Poll. Mrs.Poll was there when her mother was not she told her stories, cared for her and treated her like a daughter. A book called Nina and the Butterflies holds a special place in Nina’s heart and will be forever associated with Mrs.Poll. There is not a lot you can specifically say about this story without giving away crucial plot points. Surprises are thrown in when you least expect it and what you believed to be true you find yourself questioning at every corner. The author made excellent use of the past as an aid to explaining circumstances and events in the present and how characters came to be who they were or why they acted as they did. There was one character that shall remain nameless who just came across as an utter wimp with no guts or strength of character at all. This person was almost like a puppy wanting to do its best to please their new owner but the actions of said person in my mind left an awful lot to be desired and I felt Nina was too ready and willing to accept an explanation that was weak and which has led to unnecessary suffering. I liked that there were a lot of unforeseen moments and twists in the story. It was interesting to get to know all these different generations of Parr women and I really liked the inheritance fact of the story.

Butterfly Summer | Usborne | Be Curious Butterfly Summer | Usborne | Be Curious

Provides comprehensive coverage of all our resident and migratory butterflies, including the latest information on newly discovered species such as the Cryptic Wood White and the Geranium Bronze. The definitive book on the subject, it includes fully updated distribution maps. I had actually guessed the answer to one of the mysteries before unravelling it, and was indeed spot on about it, which is just a wonderful feeling when you are reading a book and then suddenly you have this amazing realization come to mind, that is a real sign of a truly amazing book! For children who like books that deal with serious family issues, Moon Pie by Simon Mason is another fantastic read. This gentle but gripping book is a tale of friendship and the paranormal and is perfect for fans of Cathy Cassidy and Karen McCombie' - Booktrust Peter Marren, a naturalist whose latest book, Emperors, Admirals and Chimney Sweepers, tells the compelling story of the weird and wonderful names of our butterflies and moths, sounds a note of caution about the recent glut of sightings. While accepting that warm weather is good for adult butterflies, he points out that it may not be quite so favourable for their offspring, which often rely on a specific plant on which their caterpillars feed.

Grasslands, Parks and Fields

Grasslands are an incredibly valuable habitat for many of the UK’s moths and butterflies. Semi-natural grassland, pasture, arable land, urban parkland and any areas with rough unmanaged grass will all support a variety of butterfly species. In the height of summer these areas can be teeming with Skippers, Common Blues, Ringlets and Meadow Browns. Be sure to inspect any flowering plants (particularly thistles and knapweeds) as these can act as vital nectaring points for many butterflies. Pay close attention for the fast and subtle movements of smaller species as these can often disappear against such a busy environment. A prime example of this is the Small Copper which is notoriously hard to spot due to its minute size, fast flight and discrete colouration (when its wings are closed). LOOK OUT FOR: Other mysteries begin to crop up from this moment forth. Nina hears of a woman named Teddy who she apparently looks like, and learns that the mansion from her favourite childhood book is a real place. But how are these things connected to Nina’s father? Last year more than 100,000 people took part in the survey, logging almost a million individual butterflies during just 15 minutes of observations. This year’s count ends on 11 August, and so, weather permitting, you still have a chance to take part. As Sir David Attenborough, the organisation’s president, has pointed out, doing so helps contribute to our wider understanding of the UK’s wildlife: “The Big Butterfly Count is about more than just counting butterflies – we’ll be taking the pulse of nature.” The book had been moving along at a slow enough pace for me as there was a huge amount of setting up to do and then all of a sudden an event turned everything on its head and finally we got to the heart of the matter and I began to take more of a an interest in what was going on. Nina discovers there is a legacy, a heritage to which she has a right to as she is near to turning 26. Nina hears of the house Keepsake which is now rightfully hers, the question is does she really want it and all that it brings or is she happy to meander along in life a little bit lost and not quite happy with everything going on? Nina wasn’t a character that I especially warmed to, I felt she expected all the answers to be there right in front of her fairly straight forward and requiring no thought process. I wanted more of an element of discovery and uncovering the past on Nina’s part. It felt too dragged out in the present and bits of Nina’s so called journey went over my head. In my mind the story only got going when the past began to come to light. This second (mainly) hot and dry summer in a row is good news for butterflies – and butterfly watchers. The charity Butterfly Conservation agrees: its latest statistics for the common blue show that last summer, numbers in England were up a whopping 110% on the year before. Butterfly Conservation predicts that this year’s hot weather could mean that the species will have its best ever summer.