Lemon Butterfly

by Cao Wenxuan, Roger Mello (Illustrations)

A lemon butterfly is searching for the most beautiful thing in the world, a field of flowers. Through barren wilds, across a wide river, and over a bald mountain the butterfly continues the search until its final miraculous transformation.

Genres: Picture Books, Art, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2020

About the author

Cao Wenxuan, author of the acclaimed Bronze and Sunflower, is the recipient of the 2016 Hans Christian Andersen Award. He has also won several of China’s important awards for children’s literature. A professor of Chinese literature at Peking University, Cao Wenxuan has seen many of his books become bestsellers in China, and his work has been translated into French, Russian, German, Japanese, and Korean.

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my 365 Kids Book challenge. You can see all the books on their own shelf.

I grabbed it because it is pretty. It is very pretty. I'm not really a fan of the literary novel, and this is the picture book equivalent: it's metaphorical, poetic, a little abstract maybe. The text and the illustrations are both very deliberate efforts to produce Art. And props to the publisher for bringing out a quality edition with original endpapers, heavy glossy paper, and a book cover that's just as lovely without the dust cover. There's no telling how a generic kid would react, but those who love a pretty book will be enchanted.

Library copy

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cao's chapter book, "Bronze and Sunflower" was absolutely wonderful in every way. On the other hand his picture books don't really resonate with me.

This title was quite sad, and quirky. The illustrations were unusual, but didn't work for me either.

[Erin]

Sometimes things just don’t work out. You search and journey and endeavor to find that beautiful field of flowers, but it remains forever out of your reach, at least until you fundamentally transform yourself. Or you die trying.

This was a beautiful book — the use of color and shape and motion. Just gorgeous. But I felt like I was missing a backstory, or a relevant legend, or the intended metaphor. Was the underwater realm a kind of heaven, and the lemon butterfly turned into a kind of angel fish? Was it simply about the act of striving for a goal, and how we are rarely the same once we finally reach those goals?

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story on this one, and the illustrations are gorgeous; but I didn't feel that I could rate it more than three stars because of the disconnect between the two. Also, the reader isn't quite sure what's even happening. There's a lot behind the surface on this one. But it's gorgeous, and I'd definitely recommend reading it at least once!

[Molly Cluff (Library!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow that was lovely, though certainly abstract and artsy. The syntax really stood out to me with its evocative verb choices. The illustrations were very interesting with bold contrasting colors and abstract shapes, though occasionally despite the funky shapes and visual appeal I wondered if certain illustrations were contributing to the story.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd story of a butterfly looking for a field of flowers. The butterfly travels long and far. At one point a horse sends off the scent of flowers but leads the butterfly in the wrong direction. Eventually the butterfly finds a pool of water with flowers underwater. It gives up and settles on the water, becoming a fish.

The author of this title is Chinese, so it's entirely possible this tale is based on a Chinese tale and I don't understand it.

[Alonsonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is art, not children's book. My baby enjoyed looking at the colorful pictures. But the story was just too metaphorical for kids. I can't see kids picking this book up over and over again to read it.

[Lilian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Library find.

The art was very interesting. The story was… odd? It felt engaging and then disconnected at the end. Perhaps it is supposed to be poetic? My children and myself didn’t find it a sensible story, though, so I only have two stars. Just not for us.

[Christie Kaaland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an unusual picture book that offers the idea of serendipitous solutions. A lemon butterfly insists it must find the most beautiful field of flowers. Along the way, he finds other

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual high contrast visuals combine with a poignant story about a butterfly in search of flowers. There are highlighted vocabulary words in bold, curly print. This picture book is a work of art.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful piece of art, but I may need some context before I am fully able to appreciate the story.

[Jennifer]

I received a sample eARC courtesy of Reycraft Books.

[Cope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Totally random