Hanna's Butterfly

Marie Vinje's Hanna's Butterfly tells a simple, elegant story about a brief relationship between a young girl and a wandering butterfly. Hannah finds a butterfly in the park and, noticing its beauty, brings it home. Her mother suggests that it may be tired or hurt and in need of rest. Perhaps it is travelling to warmer climes before Winter sets in. Hannah provides the butterfly an attractive temporary home in a jar. She looks up migration routes in a butterfly book and, that night, thinks about how much the butterfly needs to continue on its way. The next morning Hannah returns to the park and frees the butterfly, waving goodbye. The watercolor illustrations by Gail Suess add a lot of beauty and charm to the story of Hannah. They show a pensive, thoughtful Hannah surrounded by the brilliant colors of her natural environment. A variety of visual perspectives are shown, now the butterfly's viewpoint, now Hannah's. The soft pictures and the gentle words work together nicely to give us a story of childhood innocence and compassion. I highly recommend this book.