Reviews: (by author)

Jimenez, Francisco. Illustrated by Simon Silva. La Mariposa. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1998. 36 pages. $16.00 hardcover. ISBN 0395816637. Spanish language ISBN 0395917387.

Based on the true experiences of the author, this book tells the story of Francisco, the first-grade son of migrant farm-workers. Because Francisco speaks Spanish, unlike his other classmates, he has difficulties in school. Struggling to understand the foreign language spoken around him is frustrating; he begins to have headaches. To add to his unhappiness, one of the bigger boys in his class picks a fight with him - and Francisco can't even understand what the fight was about.

Francisco eventually withdraws into his drawings, his daydreams of flying over the fields to talk with his father, and the caterpillar living in the jar next to his desk. The caterpillar's evolution into a butterfly (mariposa) seems to mirror Francisco's own, although it is not Francisco who eventually changes. Instead, the people around him seems to change, as the teacher who refused to let him speak Spanish gives him first prize for his drawing of a monarch butterfly and the boy who fought with him becomes friendly. Though the scene when the caterpillar breaks out of its cocoon and is freed from the jar appears meant to symbolize Francisco's growth and freedom, it is also emblematic of the growth of the people in his community. This story has a good deal to teach all of us.

Richly colored illustrations evoke the deep oranges, greens, and browns of the California farmland; the depictions of the landscape are one of the most appealing aspects of the artwork. This is not simply a book for children who are Hispanic, or even children of any ethnic minority. Its story describes what it is like to feel isolated and frustrated - feelings that most children experience at one time or another. Its promise that the time to fly free will come in due course is reassuring to all children. Adults, who know that world man makes is not always as kind as the one that nature makes, can only hope for, and work toward, the time when all butterflies fly free and equal.

Recommended reading level: Age 6-10

Reviewed by Jamie Madden

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