Alexander Robinson teacher-librarian Anita Neufeld recommends Butterfly Park by Elly MacKay for Earth Day.
As a gardener, I am passionate about pollinators! Often overlooked, these small creatures are vital to our existence here on Earth and I am in awe of their diversity.
I chose Butterfly Park for an Earth Day read because it is a beautiful mentor text that shows how a community can come together to ‘green up’ an urban environment. The illustrations in this book are also intricate and diverse.
Butterfly Park is the story of a girl who moves from the country to the city and finds she misses the green spaces, wildlife and especially the butterflies of her home. She finds Butterfly Park and waits with anticipation for the butterflies, but they don’t come.
It isn’t until she comes together with her new community and they commit to noticing the small, overlooked things that they begin to rewild the landscape and bring back the butterflies. In the process, she finds she is starting to belong as well.
Earth Day is on April 22, 2024.
Butterfly Park by Elly MacKay is available in SD42 libraries.
- Check out the SD42 Earth Day Virtual Library for more information (click the images to browse).
