Saving the Butterfly: A Story about Refugees

The idea that sometimes we can feel many complicated emotions all at once comes through loud and clear. . . . A layered story that humanizes the refugee experience.

Affecting and emotional. . . Gorgeously evocative and textured mixed-media illustrations are predominantly gray at the beginning and incorporate more and more bright colors as the children respond positively to their environment.

Smith's mixedmedia illustrations convey the story's many moods and motifs through color: inky blacks for the sea rescue; drab pastels for the camp; sunny yellows when the boy brings his sister the butterfly; and intense reds and oranges on the butterfly's wings. . . . this exploration of trauma and its aftereffects should open up discussion and encourage empathy.

Soft mottling and crayon-like textures anchor the art in a steady stillness, while the palette is used with care and precision, consistently balancing bright, vibrant shades with darkened inks and smudgy grays. This is certainly more somber than Marwan’s Where Butterflies Fill the Sky (BCCB 3/22), but pairing the two titles would make for a compelling exploration of rebuilding a life in an uncertain, and perhaps, unwanted, new home.

Smith’s moody mixed-media illustrations smartly use color to convey the story’s tone, moving between shadowy and vividly hued images that mimic the sister’s emotional arc in a hopeful story about emotional processing after trauma.