Claudia & Moth

September 15, 2017
Sometimes only a butterfly will do.Claudia single-mindedly loves butterflies. She reclines in her room--a thin, smiling white girl in a summery dress--looking up at mobiles of paper butterflies that she cut out herself. Her mother won't let her bring home a live butterfly from the park, but her father gives her a paint box, and she paints huge, poster-size butterfly portraits. When winter arrives, she despairs: "there was truly nothing left to paint." Making butterflies in the snow in the park with her pet dog doesn't compensate. The emergence of a moth from her sweater drawer perks her up, but he's not quite a butterfly, so she paints him--literally paints his wings to resemble a butterfly's. When he escapes out the window seeking a streetlight, she's crushed. She "burst[s] out of the apartment" and recaptures him in the nighttime snow (not exactly plausible, but then neither was painting his wings), finally willing to paint him as the proper moth he is--a portrait, this time. From spot illustrations to full-bleed spreads, Rolli paints in oil on brown paper. At the park in summertime, the brown background feels seasonally off; it's fine for autumn, but overall, this brown paper feels too earthbound--almost claustrophobic--for an homage to creatures that flutter through the air. Not a must. (Picture book. 3-5)

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November 1, 2017

PreS-Gr 2-Claudia loves butterflies and spends her spring and summer days chasing and observing them. Her wise mother doesn't allow her to take them home: "No, it wouldn't be right" she says, more than once. Her wise father buys her a paint box and encourages her to paint them, and that works for a while-she is good at it and papers her walls with pictures she has made. But when winter comes, with all its white, Claudia despairs-"there is truly nothing left to paint." A surprise comes in the form of a sweater-eating moth. Knowing it's "not right," Claudia paints the wings of the moth to resemble a butterfly. Drama ensues when the moth escapes, but all is well when he returns and she paints a picture of him to add to her collection. Rolli's illustrations are painted in oil on brown paper and the bright, texture-rich, full-page spreads are a delight. Life is full of little frustrations, and finding ways to mitigate them is part of building resilience and creativity. VERDICT Recommended. Pair this read-aloud or read-alone title with Alan Madison's Velma Gratch & the Way Cool Butterfly for a discussion of our relationships and responsibilities to wild things.-Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School, Providence

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