Illustrated by the author
Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin), 2013
HC $16.99
32 pages
Goodreads rating: 5.00 (But there are only three ratings to average so far- and mine's one of them)
My rating: 5
Endpapers: lime green with various sized outlines of Glasswing butterflies in white
"Claire was a Glasswing butterfly.
Her wings, as clear as windows,
let the world shine through."
But a huge wind sweeps her away from her family in the country to a street in the city, where there aren't many flowers from which she can sip nectar, A friendly pigeon and ladybug show her a tiny community garden, but the flowers are sparse. She sips and flits from flower to flower, day after day, and the garden blooms and flourishes with her help.
There's a prologue that tells a little about Glasswings (they inhabit Central and South America). I wonder why it wasn't put at the end of the story?
I'm an Elisa Kleven fan, so perhaps I'm biased, but I love her work - her collaged illustrations are wonderful. On one page, the hillside of tall city buildings is created from cut rectangles from the insides of business envelopes and water colors. Mmmmm. The windows of the dull gray buildings are alive with colorful life - curtains, people, quilt-y shades and brightly colored clothing. I could just look and look and look. And, there's a happy, satisfying ending to a relatively simple, thoughtful story that also contains a message - and lesson - or two.
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