Filled with wonder at the daily miracles that surround her, a young girl loves watching the progression of caterpillars into full-grown butterflies. She takes great delight in watching them take flight, yet after one such happy occasion, she returns home to learn her grandmother has passed away. Sadness overtakes her while remembering all the wonderful times they had spent together. What helps in her grief are frequent visits by butterflies, which lead the young girl to ask her mother where they go after leaving her. Her mother answers that God sends comfort when needed and that the young girl must remain faithful and keep her eyes and heart wide open. These words comfort her, and the butterflies become a way to stay connected with the memory of her grandmother.

 

Explaining the loss of loved ones to a child is always a difficult conversation, but this fully illustrated book does a graceful job of doing exactly that. It relates the progression of life to the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies, emphasizing the divine nature behind such cycles. An inherent beauty gets woven into each step, even when the butterflies depart for distant places. As such, this story is a good choice to read to young children who might have experienced the passing of someone dear to them for the first time and who need confirmation that those loved ones are never completely gone. Inspired by events in the author’s life with visitations by yellow swallowtail butterflies, it certainly fulfills the intention of offering comfort amid grief.

 

Joyce Jacobo

US Review of Books