As the young students in Miss Dana’s classroom watch three striped caterpillars become monarch butterflies, they draw pictures and ask questions about the transformation. Narrated by one of the children, this charming story uses simple, friendly language to describe not only metamorphosis but also the monarchs’ migration to Mexico. Informative, inviting cut-paper illustrations add to the appeal.

Molly raises tadpoles in a fishbowl and watches them turn into frogs while her baby brother, Davey, learns to walk. As the tadpoles grow into frogs, Davey grows too. Detailed drawings of the tadpoles’ development are nicely balanced by the humorous text and colorful illustrations. An especially fun read-aloud for children with a new baby in the family, this older title is worth seeking out at your local library.

This enjoyable picture book briefly describes the ways babies--both human and animal--grow and develop. For every human experience, including gestation, birth, suckling, sleeping, learning to talk, and more, it presents analogous animal ones, comparing, for example, a human baby learning to walk at about 12 months to a fawn jumping and running within an hour of being born. The cheerful illustrations and short, simple text are just right for reading to preschoolers, but older readers may crave additional information.

Clear, colorful drawings and friendly, accurate text detail the development of a baby chick inside its egg. Every phase of growth is covered, beginning with the fertilization of the egg and ending with the fluffy chick pecking for food. Gentle and well executed, this appealing picture book also suggests simple activities for learning more about eggs. Interested readers may want to check out two related books from the same series: From Caterpillar to Butterfly and From Tadpole to Frog.