Life Cycle of a Silkworm by Ron Fridell and Patricia Walsh

This is an excellent non-fiction book about the life cycle of a silkworm. It is a great book for early non-fiction readers. The book begins with a Table of Contents, and then proceeds to explain the life cycle of the silkworm moth. The silkworm moth starts out as a small egg, and then hatches into a caterpillar. During this stage, the caterpillar will grow to be 10,000 times the weight that it was when it first hatched! The caterpillars eat mulberry leaves until it is time for them to pupate. At this point, they spin a small glittery thread around themselves into a cocoon. When the caterpillar emerges from its cocoon, it will have gone through metamorphosis, and will now be a moth! The book then explains that silkworms can be farmed and used to produce silk through the process of Sericulture. At the end, there is a glossary of vocabulary words used throughout the book, as well as a few lesson ideas that can be implemented in the classroom. It is a really great book for introducing scientific non-fiction, and is really great for learning about the life cycle of moths. I think that it is an excellent book for all ages.