I saw a butterfly like this one during a walk through a seashore park on a recent afternoon.

Well... maybe I didn't see this exact butterfly. Because of its beauty and spirit-like flight, the familiar orange and black monarch butterfly plays a role in traditions associated with the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), as revealed in El círculo mágico, a Spanish language children's book by Barbara M. Joosse, and Uncle Monarch and the Day of the Dead, an English language picture book by Judy Goldman. 

Monarch butterflies have been migrating through New York City recently on their way to wintering grounds in the Mexican mountains. You can learn more about these iconic insects and their amazing journey — they often return to the very same tree in Mexico every year — by finding items such as these in the Library's new Bibliocommons Catalog:

• The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies (DVD, 2009)
• Four Wings and A Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterflies by Sue Halpern 

OK, ok... here's a photo of what I really saw — a monarch butterfly feeding on goldenrod flowers at South Beach on Staten Island:

 Happy Día de los Muertos!