The Monarch: Saving Our Most-Loved Butterfly

by Kylee Baumle

Every fall, spectacular orange and black clouds of monarch butterflies fill the skies as they migrate from across North America to Central Mexico. West Coast populations make a similar though much shorter trip to coastal California. The National Wildlife Federation calls the monarch migration “one of the greatest natural phenomena in the insect world.” Not long ago, monarchs numbered in the billions, but in the last 20 years their population has dropped by 90%, due to habitat loss from pesticides, modern farming practices, urban development and other human activity. An estimated one million acres of habitat are lost each year. But today, an army of citizen scientists, students and gardeners is engaged in restoring this beloved pollinator’s habitat – the wildflowers and milkweed and feeding corridors – so that one of nature’s most beautiful creatures will still be there for generations to come. And it starts in our own backyards. The Monarch showcases this magnificent butterfly with eye-popping photos, fun facts about a monarch’s life cycle, and things to know about the vital role that pollinators play in our ecosystem. Monarch enthusiast and nature blogger Kylee Baumle provides “action” projects for all ages, from planting milkweed and wildflowers to making butterfly watering stations…to volunteer activism.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Science, Animals, Nature

160 pages, Hardcover

Published April 12, 2017

About the author

KYLEE BAUMLE is a monarch enthusiast and citizen scientist who participates in several programs that provide data to researchers studying monarchs (through Monarch Watch with the University of Kansas, and Journey North, which reports migration sightings, roosts and other key monarch data). Her rural Ohio garden is a Certified Monarch Waystation (#948) since 2006, a Certified Wildlife Habitat, and is registered with Pollinator Partnership as part of The Million Pollinator Garden Challenge.

An avid gardener and photographer with an endless curiosity about nature, Kylee is a regular columnist for both her local newspaper and Ohio Gardener magazine. She has also written for Horticulture, The American Gardener, Fine Gardening and Indiana Gardener. Her photography has appeared in magazines, books, garden industry trade publications, and catalogs. In addition to The Monarch, she is co-author of Indoor Plant Décor.

Discovering the unique and beautiful monarch butterfly has helped Kylee appreciate how so many things in nature depend on so many other things, including human beings. She believes that each and every one of us who share this earth can make a difference when we work together and fulfill the potential that we all possess to do good.

Kylee wants her grandchildren to not only be able to tell the wondrous story of the monarch to their own children and grandchildren, but to be able to show them much of it firsthand.

You can follow Kylee’s blog, Our Little Acre, at http://ourlittleacre.com, where she writes about her love for the natural world.

Reviews

[Leann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have reference book for anyone interested in gardening for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and other beneficial creatures. Highest recommendation!

[Valorie Hallinan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Monarch is lovingly and passionately written by Kylee Baumle, at a critical time for the monarch and for all species on earth. Young and old, professional gardeners and lay people alike will enjoy this book, which is carefully researched and empowering. Solid information about the miraculous monarch and its migration, and many activities for readers to get involved in its preservation that are quite doable. Highly recommended. See Books Can Save a Life, my blog, for more info and photos. http://wp.me/p28JYl-4dg

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kylie Baumle set out to write a book for adults who love butterflies, especially the Monarchs, and she has done an amazing job. Where most butterfly books are geared either to scientists or children, this one hits the right note: vastly informative, easy to read, beautiful to look at. It would make a great gift for anyone you know. She presents the threats to the endangerment of the Monarch migration without scaring or blaming, and quickly moves on to give suggestions for saving this marvelous phenomenon, steps that can be taken by anyone at all. Beautiful and inspirational. The only thing better than reading this book is going with Kylie on a tour (through Craftours) to see the Monarchs themselves in sanctuaries in Mexico. Yes, you can do that. But read the book first!

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent resource for monarch enthusiasts! Complete with crafts for children, resources for teachers, and lists of the types of milkweed, this book is a great for reference. Be sure to check out the websites listed in the book for the most up to date information! If your are raising monarchs indoors, recent studies have shown they may not know how to migrate.

[Robin Luftig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! Kylee captures more than the beauty of the Monarch, she guides the reader in how to bring these beautiful creatures into their own back yard as well as their lives. Ever consider drinking a Milkweed Cocktail or making a monarch ring for a child? That's here, too.

Thanks, Kylee, for showing us the beauty behind the beauty of these most loved butterflies.

[Maddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting information and cute craft ideas. My husband and I successfully grew milkweed for the first time this year. We saw a chrysalis on one of the leaves in our pumpkin patch and wanted to learn more about the life cycle of this insect. We also lived near one of the big monarch butterfly hubs(Pacific Grove CA) and have been curious about them ever since.

[Tammy Spears · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of information and references for anyone wanting to join the important job of saving our monarchs. We can do this!!!

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative with great photos throughout. I am going to try my hand at growing milkweed if I can find one that grows in containers for my area!

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for the Ohio State Alumni Association’s 2025 Reading Bingo Challenge.

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this through Goodreads giveaways; thank you! My opinions are my own.

Wow! There is a ton of information in this book! It was awesome. Everything from cause of decline, to what government organizations have done, to what we as individuals can do. With that much information in such a small book, it's no surprise that it occasionally reads like a textbook. Worth it though.