Yellow Butterfly: A Story from Ukraine
Staff Reviews
This wordless picture book from Ukrainian illustrator Oleksandr Shatokhin is a masterpiece; a gorgeous tale of hope and belief in a brighter future. There is a reader's guide in the back to help explain the story to children. The book seems dark until the child sees a single yellow butterfly. Eventually, this spark of hope transforms their whole world into a bright and peaceful place. An absolutely wonderful story about seeing the good in the worst of situations.
Description
A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Book of the YearA USBBY Outstanding International Book 2024
★ "Provocative, powerful, breathtakingly beautiful." -STARRED REVIEW, Kirkus Reviews
★ "Both timely and timeless, evoking war and its aftermath without losing sight of hope."-STARRED REVIEW, Booklist
★ "Stark images in black and white lead this sympathetic wordless picture book about a girl who's enduring the war in Ukraine."-STARRED REVIEW, Foreword Review"Breathtaking" -Ruta Sepetys, author of Between Shades of Gray
"A beautiful and heartbreaking tribute to the resiliency of people in wartime;"- School Library Journal
"A moving portrait."-New York TimesA wordless picture book portrayal of war seen through the eyes of a young girl who finds hope in the symbolism of yellow butterflies against the background of a pure blue sky. Using the colors of his national flag, Oleksandr Shatokhin has created a deeply emotional response to the conflict in Ukraine and provided a narrative full of powerful visual metaphors for readers to consider as they travel from the devastating effects of war to a place of hope for peace and the future.
A portion of the sale of this book will be donated to the Universal Reading Foundation who supply children's books to Ukraine.
Back matter includes notes on sharing a wordless picture book and how to talk to children about war.