The Book of Butterfly Records

Katja Bargum & Jenny Lucander

Did you know that butterflies have superpowers? The first one you probably know already. They are beautiful! Humans have always thought so: over the entire world the butterfly symbolizes beauty and change. Butterflies are depicted on antique fabrics, in paintings, and as jewelry.

But butterflies have other powers as well. They can drink sweat, fly across half the globe, and hibernate in the snow. They can make themselves invisible to enemies, and scare the wits out of them. Butterfly caterpillars can pretend to be snakes, prickly hairballs, or bird poop. The most famous butterfly landed on football player Ronaldo’s forehead in the middle of a game, and was seen on TV by almost a billion people.

This is Katja Bargum’s and Jenny Lucander’s second funny, clever, and lavishly illustrated non-fiction book on insects. Katja Bargum is a biologist, science journalist and has, among other things, published the book The Ants’ Secret Lives. Award-winning illustrator Jenny Lucander’s other books at Koja Agency include We Are Lions! (text by Jens Mattson, winner of the Nordic Council Literature Prize 2020) and Facts About Dads.

Press voices 

“Today there are high requirements on the fact-based picture book. It needs to be able to produce objective and correct information, but it should also work as both a textual and visual medium. In that regard Bargum and Lucander outclasses everyone with their fact-based picture books. In The Book of Butterfly Records, as in its precursor, there are a lot of elaborated thinking, which makes it into an enlightening, funny and enjoyable read.” Maria Lassén-Seger, Hufvudstadsbladet

“I’m especially in love with Bargum and Lucanders teamwork, where text and images meet in a wonderful entirety. Bargum breaks down the complicated and fact based with details and comments that makes it easy to keep interest, while Lucander makes it a illustrative masterpiece.” Lotta Green, Svenska Yle

“With a straightforward and pure tone Bargum presents a text about hungry larva’s, smart butterfly moms, super quick Sphyrnidae and the weird technique and anatomy that makes sure the butterfly actually flies. All of this, while Jenny Lucander breaks of the text in an experienced way with spreads almost like collages, that makes reading out loud flow on in a nice way. Even though there is great detail in both word and illustrations it still manages to leave room for imagination in Lucanders world of pictures. A beautiful painted, pink sunset or a grove in layers upon layers of uninviting green gives air to the text and makes it utterly soar. It is really skilfully made.” Alexandra Sundqvist, Dagens Nyheter

Other books by Katja Bargum