Farfalla, A story of loss and hope
by Vanita Oelschlager, illustrated by Kristin Blackwood
VanitaBooks, LLC
September 2012
ISBN: 9780983290407
This attractive book bears a just-right touch for helping young children realize that not all metamorphoses and births result as planned.
One day young Beetle and his mother find a neighborhood of caterpillars in the blueberry bush, and Beetle finds some pleasant neighbors ... until the caterpillars disappear, the cocoons appear, and Beetle's mother has to explain that there are changes in store and beetle must be patient.
When a particular cocoon doesn't produce Farfalla the butterfly that Beetle has named, planned and waited for so long, mother must again explain that not all butterflies make it out of the cocoon, and she consoles Beetle about the loss.
This book would be a supportive and straight-forward read to help children understand miscarriage as well as deaths of pet and other babies they see in nature around them. The illustrations and text hit just the right note of access without patronizing the child reader, though the solution to Farfalla's non-birth is less than satisfying.
What's different:
The text is neither so blatant nor so soft that the child misses the message. The illustrations support and extend the message with just the right touch of appeal.
Parallels from butterflies to babies can be made easily, and the story and emotions set by the drawings will be comfortable for repeated readings.
Now that I've read it:
This title will be a good one to add for my school library. The message of life after death does not help with my particular theology, so I won't be adding it to the church library.
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