Winged Wonders: Solving the monarch migration mystery by Meeg Pincus, illustrated by Yas Imamura

 One of the criticisms I have of many nonfiction books, especially about scientists and inventors, is that they fall into the stereotype of the lone scientist. This story of the "discovery" of the monarch's migration flips the focus in the other direction, focusing on the diverse group of people who worked together on this discovery.

For many years North Americans had enjoyed the beauty of clouds of monarch butterflies but the puzzle of where they came from and where they traveled to remained unsolved. In 1976, the mystery was solved by the cooperation of hundreds of scientists and ordinary people. These people included a Canadian scientist who discovered a method of tagging butterfly wings, the people who used his method to tag hundreds of butterflies, a Mexican woman who, married to an American interested in the migration of monarchs, tracked their search throughout Mexico and spoke to the locals, and the local inhabitants themselves, who never needed an answer to the mystery because they knew all along!

Pincus finishes the story with the threats facing these beautiful insects and how people are once again joining together, this time to save them. Back matter includes a more in-depth explanation of the journey of discovery, including reiterating the question - can you "discovery" something that indigenous people always knew was there? There are some simple methods for helping monarchs to finish off the book.

Verdict: This story of citizen scientist acknowledges not only the work of scientists, teachers, and citizens but also the labor of wives and the knowledge of indigenous populations. It's a great introduction to citizen scientists and an interesting story for primary grades. A strong purchase for public libraries and an even more important purchase for school libraries.

ISBN: 9781534110403; Published 2020 by Sleeping Bear Press; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library.