Mr. McGinty's Monarchs



Last updated Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Author: Linda Vander Heyden
Illustrator: Eileen Ryan Ewen
Date of Publication: 2016
ISBN: 1585366129
Grade Level: 3rd    (GLCs: Click here for grade level guidelines.)
Date(s) Used: Jul. 2025

Synopsis: Mr. McGinty and his dog Sophie love checking in on the monarch caterpillars and butterflies on their summer walks. But one day Mr. McGinty is shocked to find that all the milkweed in town has been mowed down! And monarch caterpillars, he explains, can't survive without milkweed. Can Mr. McGinty come up with a plan to save the monarchs?

Note to readers:
•  Read pages 30 and 31 before you start reading to the kids (and again after you've read the rest of the book to them.) They have all kinds of information about "monarchs and milkweed" and "a monarch's migration."
•  This book has pictures of many kinds of butterflies in their various stages of life (caterpillar, chrysalis - pupa, and butterfly). Even though these kids are old enough that you wouldn't normally do a picture walk before reading the book, a picture walk is recommended.

Discussion topics for before reading:
•  Do dogs like butterflies or is Sophie just along for the ride?
•  What different kinds of butterflies can you identify? Are any of them here in this book?

Vocabulary
•  Monarch - a royal ruler, like a king or queen. Also the name of a big, orange and black, butterfly that lives in the United States and Mexico, but not in other places.
•  nectar (page 8)- a sweet liquid made by flowers. It provides food for bees and butterflies.
•  trembled (page 10) - shake involunarily. See if you can demonstrate what that looks like for the kids. Have them do it too.
•  larvae (page 13) - the caterpillar stage of butterflies. Remember, they have 3 stages of life: caterpillar, pupa (in the chrysalis) and butterfly.
•  Chrysalis (page 20) - A chrysalis is the pupa of a butterfly. It is a special stage in the life cycle of a butterfly where the caterpillar transforms into an adult butterfly. The word "chrysalis" comes from the Greek word for gold, as many chrysalises have bright colors. A chrysalis is made of a hardened layer of skin that the caterpillar forms. It is the stage before the butterfly emerges with wings. In simple terms, a chrysalis is like a protective shell that helps the caterpillar change into a butterfly!
•  migrate (page 21) - move to another location, seasonally every years, in the case of butterlies and birds and farmworkers who are following the crops, or permanently, like immigrants.
•  Toxic - poisonous. Milkweed plants are poisonous, but not to monarchs. Monarch eat milkweed so that they, too, become poisonous to things that might eat them (like birds or larger insects or spiders).

Discussion topics for during/after reading:
•  What do monarch caterpillars look like? Striped white, black and yellow.
•  Aquariums - Mr. McGinty buys lot of them. But he uses them as "terrariums." What's the difference? Aqua is water, Terra is land or earth.
•  Problem - the field full of milkweed has been all cut down. Where is Mr. McGinty going to get milkweed for the monarch caterpillars to eat and grow? (page. 18) How would you solve that problem? What do you think of his solution (page 20)?
•  Some of our Reading Clubs schools have native plant gardens - Politi and Esperanza, for example. If the kids has seen monarchs, maybe they can tell the others what the monarchs were doing - eating, making a chrysalis, breaking out of the chrysalis, flying around?
•  Why is it important to have native butterflies like monarchs? Answers include: They play a crucial role in pollinating flowers. They attract other native species that feed on them. Using native plants in gardens increases biodiversity and provides food for butterflies and other pollinators. Native butterflies are threatened, and population trends are important for conservation efforts.

Craft ideas:
•  1. Fairly complicated: popsicle stick Monarch butterfly. Supplies: orange construction paper, black felt-tip pens, glue, craft stick, pipestems.Googly eyes are optional. Cut the construction paper in half and fold each half-sheet in half again. From the first half sheet, cut out 2 large teardrop shaped wings. They should be attached to each other at the small (pointy end) along the fold. For the second half sheet, cut out 2 smaller teardrop-shaped wings the same way. Color the edges of the wings black and make a stained-glass pattern on the rest of the wings on both sides of the paper. Then assemble the butterfly using the craft stick as the body and the pipestems for antennae and proboscis.
•  2. Simpler: Handprint butterfly: Supplies: Construction paper (at least 2 colors), narrow-tip pens, glue, crayons. Help the kids trace the outline of their hands on the construction paper. The palms of their hands should meet in the center. Then take a second sheet of paper and make butterfly bodies and glue them over the section where the palms meet in the center. Then color the wings and body and draw heads, antennae, faces, etc.

Special activities:
•  Do the worksheet and re-number the life stages of the butterflies in the correct order.
•  REMINDER: if you don’t have air conditioning, on a very hot day your public library has AC to help keep you cool.

*Note: These craft ideas are just suggestions. You can use them, but you don't have to use them. You can expand upon them, or add your own twist. Remember, though, that the focus of your time should not be on the development and execution of a craft; the focus should be on the read-aloud and the enjoyment of the book!