4 out of 4 stars
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If you have any children of your own (and you probably do since you're reading a children's book review!), there's a good chance you've had to deal with getting them past some of their fears. Maybe you've had to check for monsters under their beds or in their closets. Maybe you've had to leave their bedroom door open or give them a nightlight. Heck, maybe there's an awesome nightlight in their room right now! But sooner or later, children need to learn how to deal with fear on their own.
Dealing with fear is the focus of What Color Is Your Butterfly?, written by Matt Scott and illustrated by Ana Sebastian. This is the first book of the "Find Something Awesome!" series, and in the 16 months since it released four additional books have followed it. The book begins with Matt's goal for the series: "to create a needed modern Aesop's Fables as bedtime stories from parent to child."
In this first entry, a father tells his daughter a secret. Through rhymes and adorable illustrations, after covering her with a blanket, turning on the light, and checking under the bed, he tells her the secret to defeating all the monsters and fears she'll ever have. It's an adorable tale, and the creativity of the solution is right up there with the best things I've heard from books and movies.
While the writing is sweet, the icing on the proverbial cake is the art. The father clearly looks kind and loving, but the daughter steals the show. She's wonderfully emotive and amazingly adorable! There's a blend of art styles in the book, from what looks like pencil or crayon shading on her bed, to penciled lines for the wooden floor, and there are terrific little stuffed animals and toys. There are details everywhere, and the images are big and colorful with the black text underneath against a white background.
What Color Is Your Butterfly? is an adorable little book, and it does a terrific job of teaching its lesson. The discussion questions and quick single-sentence summary points at the end ensure that everyone will understand the point. Only one of the rhymes felt forced at all, and I saw no grammatical or formatting errors whatsoever. My rating of the book is 4 out of 4 stars, and it's an easy recommendation for anyone trying to teach their child how to conquer their fears. The Amazon page for the book has no recommended age, but I'd consider it an early-reader title.
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What Color Is Your Butterfly?
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