What a beautifully illustrated book! Just gorgegously presented and ver very informative and educational. Fun for both children and adults alike!

Centuries ahead of her time, Maria Sibylla Merian studied and illustrated insects in innovative ways. This book showcases how a young girl with unbounded curiosity changed the way we see our world. Very inspiring for young and older readers alike. I loved it!

I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC regulations.

Please see my review here: https://libraries.idaho.gov/school-libraries/nonfiction-book-month/. You must scroll down to accordianed review for March 2018. It's a beautiful book!

The Netgalley version of this book was all scattered and hard to read. I got through a quarter of the book. I did enjoy what I read, but it was hard to follow. I have since purchased a copy of the book for my library and am enjoying the book. I don't think I will have a lot of students interested in checking it out, but it will be a book that I specifically place into certain hands.

A beautifully illustrated and clearly written biography of the 17th century scientist, artist and explorer Maria Sibylla Merian. Her scientific illustration is gorgeous and her work influenced many future artists. Merian studied butterfly metamorphosis long before anyone else, and her scientifically accurate paintings were used by Carl Linnaeus to classify species he had never seen. While this book is written for a young adult audience, I think any naturalist or artist will find inspiration in the life and work of Maria Sibylla Merian.

Thank you Netgalley and Getty Publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Amazing woman. This is an insightful book about Maria Sibylla Merian. She was a great artist/illustrator; her paintings aided Carl Linnaeus in classifying creatures he could not go to see himself. She traveled and painted. Very independent woman. I'd never heard of her before finding this book and think it should be used not only in art and science classes, but in classroom to encourage students, particularly girls. Great book.

Gorgeous illustrations. Great educational resource to teach children about influential women in history.

I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Maria Sibylla Merian lived druing a time when insects were beleived to come into being through spontaneous generation and women were much too tied up with running their households to devote their time to anything else . From an early age, Maria was facintated with butterflies; collecting caterpillars and observing their metamorphosis into butterflies. Growing up in the home of her panter step-father, she was an accomplished artist, As an adult, her books on insects revoluntionized the study of insects and her visit to Surinam introduced Europeans to the wonders of the New World.
Maria Sibylla Marion:Artist, Scientist, Adventurer is a facinating look at the life of an incredible woman. I love antique natural history prints and Maria's artwork was right up my alley. It is amazing to me that she and her daughter traveled to Surinam, at a time when few people left the country of their birth,
The book is beautifully illustrated and contains information about people, places, and events that Maria would have encountered in her own life. A helpful glossary at the end helps with some of the more diffficult terms readers might encounter.

A few months ago I read another NetGalley ARC titled Visual Voyages and it was there thatI first read about Maria Sibylla Merian, an artist and pioneer in the field of entomology. This slim volume expounds on her life and work and will make a great addition to any science or language arts classroom.

Maria Sibylla Merian was a 17th Century German entomologist and artist who had profound effects on the idea of studying insects directly, or in situ, including through their metamorphoses. The daughter and stepdaughter of artists in Frankfurt, Merian took an interest in insects from an early age, studying them and breeding silkworms at as early an age as thirteen. She is considered by modern naturalist Sir David Attenborough to be one of the most important researchers in the field of entomology. Many insects and spiders have been named after her, in honor of her contribution to the field.

This book, which appears to target middle-grade students, offers many examples of Merian's exquisite drawings from nature and biographical information about her rather amazing life, which included traveling with her daughter to Dutch Suriname in the late 1700's in order to study New World insects and spiders. This looks to be a good platform for encouraging interest in budding entomologists, as it touches on the actual scientific exploration process that Merian, unlike many in her day, espoused. (Some of the other artists' contrasting images offered were perhaps less than convincing, however.)

This is a slim volume at 98 pages in the review galley but appears to be a worthwhile addition to any middle grade or high school library.

Please note that this review is scheduled to go live on my blog on 03/26/2018 at 10:15 PM EDT.

I am so happy to have finally learned of this talented woman artist/traveler/scientist! Her artwork is beautiful, and she was far ahead of her time. Her keen observation shows in all of her work, and I think artists will love this book. I also like that Merian is a significant scientist that girls should learn about as part of history.

Excellently organized and entertaining. A real winner for the publisher and the reader.

A gorgeous book about a woman who was way ahead of her time in the fields of entomology and scientific art/illustrations.

I had heard about Maria Merian a couple of times before I saw this book–most notably, I remember her work being featured in Visual Voyages–but didn’t really know her full backstory. She’s someone who deserves so much more recognition, especially since many of her observations of the metamorphosis and life cycle of insects were at least a century or so ahead of her time. Of course, like most other female scientists, her observations were never really taken at scientific value and not believed until male scientists finally discovered or proved the same thing. However, a book like this brings her life into excellent focus and highlights the importance of her contributions.

Being fortunate to have been raised in a family of artists, Maria was able to learn the trade and start incorporating her other love, observing bugs and plants, into her artwork. She recorded detailed observations of the insects she observed or raised, in addition to illustrating them, and even travelled to Suriname to observe tropical species first-hand. Her illustrations didn’t just show a static insect at one stage of life, but rather illustrated the entire lifecycle of an insect, from egg to adult, in one plate. She not only proved that caterpillars hatched from eggs, but also illustrated the relationshisps between insects and the plants they ate, proving how important certain plants were to the insects and how they played into the food chain.

This is billed as a young adult reference book, and while it certainly is written as such, I think it’s a perfect introduction to Maria for readers of any age. The amount of information contained within is quite substantial, and it includes so many plates of Maria’s works that it would also be a lovely coffee table book.

Very highly recommended for natural history, art, and/or bug lovers of all ages!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy to review!

This is an excerpt of a review was originally published on my website: <a href="https://www.missjennysclassroom.com/2018/03/maria-sibylla-merian-entomologist-review.html">Miss Jenny's Classroom</a>

This book is a detailed biography of Maria and in part her family as well. Maria, the daughter and step-daughter, of two talented artists grew up surrounded by art. From an early age Maria learnt how to mix paints, prepare canvases, and eventually developed her own artistic style. Originally basing her artworks on her step-father’s still life paintings she began observing insects in detail and documenting not only their appearance but also their life-cycles. Throughout her life, including marriage and children, Maria continued to explore and expand upon the world’s knowledge of insects through her study.

I had never heard of Maria before seeing this book. It is quite apparent as you read through this book just how exceptional she was for her time in many different ways. She was clearly very dedicated to becoming an artist in her own right, a scientist and entomologist. This is a book that would work in a classroom looking at a variety of topics including women in history, scientists, evolution of scientific processes, observation and documentation in science,

A biography of artist Maria Sibylla Merian, born in 1647, showing how she developed a scientific study of insects and other creatures centuries ahead of her time that provided groundbreaking knowledge. Her careful observations connected the multiple stages in the lives of many butterflies and moths, and her illustrations and studies in Surinam brought the Americas to Europe in vibrant color. The book is full of reproductions of Maria Sibylla's amazing illustrations.

This book is incredibly well-researched and is related in a more scholarly style for middle grade and young adult students. I love that they were able to use Maria Sibylla's actual illustrations throughout the book. That really helps to bring the woman to life. I had never heard of her before, but she made some major contributions to science and scientific art in a time when women really didn't have much of a place in the world. She was also rather adventurous for her time, venturing to Surinam from Europe and back to observe the creatures there. It is amazing to realize that she pre-dated Linneaus and that he actually used her works to classify several organisms. In all, a fantastic biography of a woman who made some major contributions to science over 300 years ago!

No content issues.

What a fascinating biography: When I saw the intricate drawings of flowers and butterflies in all stages of their life cycle, I knew I had seen prints of them before. I just did not know who made them. It is ironic that growing up in Germany I never heard about the studies of Maria Sybilla Merian. As a young girl and later as a woman she was way ahead of her time, applying the scientific method to her work and even travelling for her studies. She lived in a time when most of the girls did not receive much of any formal education and people could be happy to be able to read and write. She was fortunate to be surrounded by an artistic family where she developed her artistic skills and was able to take her time to study nature. This book is wonderful for students grades 5 to 8 and can be used in language arts, science, history and art classes. It belongs in every middle school library. Maria Sybilla Merian sticks out because she lived in a time where mostly men made history. It is about time that we learn more about her. The book is very inspiring.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating biography which includes many of Merian’s paintings and also writings from her journals and books. Merian was an interesting person, and her accomplishments were incredible feats.

Merian studied butterfly metamorphosis long before anyone else, and her scientifically accurate paintings were used by Carl Linnaeus to classify species he had never seen.

This is actually a biography written for children, which I didn’t realize at first, but I still enjoyed it and learned a lot. It’s a great introduction to this woman and her work, which I knew nothing about. The book is well-written, fast-paced, beautifully-designed, and gives a good overview of Merian’s life and greatest accomplishments.

One thing I learned was how art was produced back in those days. I had no idea all the work that was involved in painting a picture. Paint had to be mixed by hand from any number of natural materials gathered from all over the world. It was difficult to get the paint to just the right shade of color and just the right consistency. These facts make me appreciate the art of that time even more.

I had never heard of Maria Sibylla Merian before, so this was a very interesting intoduction to her life and work. Merian was born in Germany in 1647, and spent her later life in Amsterdam, Holland. This book chronicles her artistic development as well as her scientific exploration. Her specialty was insects -- she would observe all the insects she could find and take notes on their life cycles. She also painted detailed, scientifically accurate pictures of many many insects and plants.

Around 1700, she and her daughter made a scientific voyage to Surinam to study, paint, and collect specimens of native plants and animals, something that was unheard of for a woman in those days -- as the book says, she was a woman "far ahead of her time." She and her daughters published several volumes of paintings, some of which ended up in the collections of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

This book includes many of her paintings (with detailed captions explaining the plants and animals in each one) as well as an overview of Maria Sibylla Merian's legacy at the end -- she's had several organisms named in her honor since her death. The book also includes a glossary and bibliography.

It is inspiring to read about the ways that scientific curiosity and exploration have compelled people (mostly men in those days) to observe, explore, and carefully record the world around them, even long before modern scientific framework or conveniences. It's especially inspiring to read about a woman doing the same thing even when it went against the social expectations of the day.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

Unfortunately, the galley didn’t work for me. :( The cover was nice and the idea was interesting.

This book is beautiful! The biography was very interesting also, but the images were what really made me like this book so very much! I love that this was written for ages 10+. I plan on having my 11-year-old daughter take a look at this book. I have a feeling we will be buying the physical book. The images will surely be even more beautiful in book format rather than on my computer. I was not familiar with the name Maria Sibylla Merian until now, but I will be researching her and looking to learn more about her and her life