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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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Instantly access 40,000 high-quality books for kids

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The leading digital library for kids offering unlimited access to 40,000 of the best children's books of all time. Sign up for a free 30 day trial to instantly access high-quality online books for kids, ebooks, audio books, quizzes, videos, and more.

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B Is For Baller The Ultimate Basketball Alphabet

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From Caterpillar to Butterfly - Bedtime Stories

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We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings. But did you know that these fab flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation - a process known as " metamorphosis ".

Join Nat Geo Kids as we follow the life-cycle of this quirky creature, from the egg to the air!

Stage 1: the egg

It all starts when a female butterfly lays her eggs, usually on leaves or stems of plants. Inside these tiny eggs, caterpillars grow. Depending on the species, the eggs can vary in shape and texture - they can be round, oval or cylindrical, and smooth, bumpy or wrinkled. The time it takes for the eggs to hatch can also vary - in some species, they will hatch within a few weeks and in others they will only hatch once the weather is warm enough.

Stage 2: the caterpillar

Once ready, the caterpillar leaves its egg home and enters the big outside world! And these little critters have one serious appetite - they actually eat their way out of the egg and immediately start chomping on the leaves of the host plant. During this stage, they shed their skin four or five times - as the caterpillar grows, its skin becomes too tight and splits open, revealing a new, larger skin underneath. A fully grown caterpillar can be over 100 times larger than when it emerged from its egg. Wow!

Once fully grown, the caterpillar forms itself into a "pupa" (or chrysalis) - a kind of vessel in which the caterpillar changes into a butterfly. They usually do this on twigs or safe, hidden areas around the host plant. The "pupa" stage may last a few weeks to several months depending on the species. During this time, a hardened case forms around the pupa to protect it from predators and extreme weather conditions. And inside, the tissue, limbs and organs of the caterpillar transform. The result? A wonderful winged butterfly!

Once the butterfly is ready to emerge, the case around the pupa splits open. But it's not time for take off just yet, as the wings are at first wet, soft and wrinkled against its body. The butterfly waits for its wings to dry, and pumps a liquid called hemolymph into them so that they become big and strong. Once fit for flight, this brilliant bug then takes to the air in search for flowers to feed on and for other butterflies to mate with. And that's the cycle complete - and ready to start all over again!

Did you know...?

Moths also go through this process of metamorphosis. Check out the four stages of the Atlas moth, below - the largest moth in the world!

Images: Atlas moth: Butterfly World. All other images: Getty Images UK. Monarch butterfly on flower: James Laurie, Shutterstock.

Cool, huh? To find out more about these winged wonders, fly over to butterflyworldproject.com!

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The Butterfly Life Cycle! | National Geographic Kids

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings. But did you know that these fab flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation - a process known as " metamorphosis ". Join Nat Geo Kids as we follow the life-cycle of this quirky creature, from the egg to the air!

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They taste with their feet and have a suction tube for a mouth. Butterflies are amazing! They are found in every habitat from tropical forests to deserts to grasslands to tundra! You can see them almost anywhere in the world, because they live on every continent except Antarctica.

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https://bookflix.digital.scholastic.com/pair/detail/bk0043pr/book?authCtx=U.794217314

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Astronaut Tips: How to Wash Your Hair in Space

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What can you observe when you look up at the night sky?