National Geographic Face to Face Readers is a high-interest series of books for confident, independent readers that have been adapted to a Key Stage 2 audience by education experts. The books pair magnificent National Geographic photographs with lively first-person text and fascinating facts about the natural world.

Join experienced nature photographer Darlyne Murawski on a journey of transformation and discovery to learn all about these delicate, beautiful creatures. Written in an engaging and fun to read format, the captivating photos and fascinating facts are perfect for encouraging the future explorers and insect scientists of tomorrow!

Level 6 readers are ideal for kids who are very confident in reading independently and ready to challenge themselves with a wide variety of sentence structures and writing styles, a range of new technical vocabulary and the need for more complex inference.


Ever had an in-your-face encounter with a caterpillar? Darlyne Murawski came eye-to-eye with a spiny caterpillar in Costa Rica—and was severely stung by the harmless-looking creepy-crawly. But she still got the picture.

It's one of many caterpillar close-ups which illustrate this extraordinary book. Readers learn to study these insects like the experts: witness the astonishing life cycle with its metamorphosis from caterpillar to pupa to butterfly; see the amazing snake-like defences of some poisonous species; and the silk stitching used by others to build leafy hideaways. Face to Face with Caterpillars encourages an active study of this intriguing insect: How to find caterpillars, how to raise a monarch, how to help preserve their habitats, how to photograph the caterpillar, and how to learn more; it's all in Darlyne Murawski's fun book.


When Darlyne Murawski first came face to face with a spiny, transparent caterpillar in Costa Rica, she accidentally brushed its spines with the back of her hand and was injected with a stinging chemical. She didn't stop screaming for 20 minutes. But that didn't stop her from getting her picture. Or from going back for more. In "Eye to Eye with Caterpillars", Darlyne introduces readers to the magnificent world of caterpillars (to date, 17,000 species of butterflies and 145,000 species of moths world-wide). 'To eat but not be eaten is the name of the game'. Most caterpillars eat leaves, but some carnivores prefer bugs - and can catch them in surprising ways. Caterpillars are low on the food chain, which means many of them have managed to develop the most incredible defenses. Some look just like poisonous snakes. Some, called leaf rollers, make themselves hiding places in leaves they stitch together with silk. Others rely on camouflage - there are twig look-alikes, leaf mimics, flower mimics, and more. Some even spit acid into the eyes of their predators. Darlyne's caterpillar stories and fun facts are enthralling.
Her pictures are stunning in their range of color and composition and incredible variety. Through fun sidebars, she also offers concrete tips on how to spot caterpillars.