The Butterfly Summer: From the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE GARDEN OF LOST AND FOUND and THE WILDFLOWERS

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For children who like books that deal with serious family issues, Moon Pie by Simon Mason is another fantastic read.

Peter Marren, a naturalist whose latest book, Emperors, Admirals and Chimney Sweepers, tells the compelling story of the weird and wonderful names of our butterflies and moths, sounds a note of caution about the recent glut of sightings. While accepting that warm weather is good for adult butterflies, he points out that it may not be quite so favourable for their offspring, which often rely on a specific plant on which their caterpillars feed.

Butterfly Conservation

Purple emperor butterfly numbers last year were at their second-best since 1976 highest with hopes that their favoured tree leaf food was more resilient to drought than grasses. Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy Two books within one. For the main part The Butterfly Summer is the contemporary story of Nina Parr and Keepsake, the magical home that is her birthright. Interspersed with her story is that of her grandmother, Theodora aka Teddy.

That’s in sharp contrast to other groups of flying insects, such as moths and damselflies, of which several species have successfully colonised in Britain. Surely it is only a matter of time before those new butterflies join them. Unlike in 1976, today most British butterfly species are in decline, and therefore the negative effect of seasonal droughts could be more long-lasting. According to the 2022 State of the UK’s Butterflies report by Butterfly Conservation, 80% of species have declined in abundance or distribution or both since the 1970s. Dr Richard Fox concluded: “Nearly 137,000 Big Butterfly Counts were recorded this summer and if every single person who helped with the Count creates a Wild Space, we can build a UK-wide network of spaces for butterflies to feed, breed and shelter. By creating a Wild Space everyone can make a difference and help butterflies and moths thrive.” In this poem, Frost describes the spring day when swarms of blue butterflies fill the air with colour as they fly: for the poet, they are ‘flowers that fly’, and would sing if they could, so joyous is their flight.Other mysteries begin to crop up from this moment forth. Nina hears of a woman named Teddy who she apparently looks like, and learns that the mansion from her favourite childhood book is a real place. But how are these things connected to Nina’s father? The Whites took the third and fourth spot, with 216,666 sightings of Large Whites and 190,506 of Small Whites, an 11% and 15% increase on 2022 respectively. Holly Blue had another good summer, with numbers up 66% on 2022, in keeping with its longer-term Big Butterfly Count trend of a 41% increase.

The American poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) was a contemporary of the modernists, but he rejected their focus on free verse and preferred to write more directly about the world of nature and his own place within it, using rather than dismissing traditional forms. Essentially a story about the secrets (many of them hardly secrets at all) and obligations that, generation after generation, bind together the women of the Parr family. I'm afraid, especially in its earlier chapters, the characters from the differing eras yet to be established, I found the book confusing, the various strands to the plot unnecessarily convoluted which sadly meant instead of focusing on the story I found myself concentrating overly hard on just where (if anywhere) it was going. The plot is much alike a minestrone (rather than a gourmet dish), only, one cooked with whatever was left in the fridge. Unplanned, or made up along the way in a rush, by throwing in a pot ingredients, attempting to create its flavour. It never pays off.

Butterflies need a place to live. If they can feed, breed and shelter, they can thrive. By creating a Wild Space in your outdoor area you can help to reverse the massive losses of wildlife-friendly habitat and start to turn around the fortunes of our declining butterflies." Let's create more space for butterflies! Nina grew up not knowing much about her father’s side of the family. He died when she was six months old. When things about her family are revealed out of the blue Nina finds herself digging for clues, determined to understand what’s going on.