Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story

by Zeena M. Pliska, Fiona Halliday (Illustrator)

Overview

Caterpillar crawls from leaf to leaf, eating and waiting, all alone in a big, green world. Then Orange appears—Orange floats, and flits, and flies, graceful and beautiful. In this sweet, moving story of intergenerational friendship, a small caterpillar is befriended by a glorious monarch butterfly, and together they learn to see the world through each other’s eyes.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781624149313
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	05/12/2020
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.70(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Zeena M. Pliska is a kindergarten teacher by day and a children’s book author by night in Los Angeles, California. A progressive public school educator, she believes that the most important aspect of teaching is listening to children. A social justice activist and organizer for over 30 years, she brings race, class, and gender analysis to everything she does. A lifetime storyteller, she has facilitated stories as a theater director, visual artist, photographer and journalist. Her books include Egyptian Lullaby and Hello Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story.

Editorial Reviews

[Hello, Little One] is an accessible and thoroughly engaging introduction to monarchs, told through a parable of friendship.” – Booklist, starred review

“Lyrically told and handsomely illustrated... Share this lovely picture book to launch a science unit, or to introduce evergreen themes including growing up, dealing with loss, and the power of transformation.” – School Library Journal, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2020

PreS-Gr 2—Lyrically told and handsomely illustrated, this picture book touches upon the life cycle of a monarch butterfly. Little One emerges from its egg and begins to explore: "I crawl from green leaf to green leaf. Eating and waiting. Waiting for something other than these green leaves. Everything is green." Readers see a close-up image of the just-hatched narrator in an emerald ecosphere. The perspective broadens beyond the milkweed plant when the caterpillar meets Orange, a stunning adult monarch that swoops, soars, and flutters onto the scene. The two strike up an affectionate relationship, as the younger insect shares innate enthusiasm for every new experience, and the elder describes the wider world and imparts bits of wisdom. The digital mixed-media illustrations open out as well, bringing to life scenes and settings described by Orange, who flits above blooming bougainvillea, a school yard filled with laughing children, or churning ocean waves. Little One looks forward to exploring together, but Orange makes clear that her life is almost over, explaining "I must go. We all must go some day." They say one last goodbye, and Little One clings to the memory of their friendship, emerging from its chrysalis as an adult who gently greets another tiny caterpillar. VERDICT Share this lovely picture book to launch a science unit, or to introduce evergreen themes including growing up, dealing with loss, and the power of transformation.—Joy Fleishhacker, Pikes Peak Library District, Colorado Springs

School Library Journal

2020-02-18
A monarch butterfly befriends a newly hatched monarch larva and offers it a glimpse into a future with wings.

The narrative is voiced by the caterpillar: “Coming out of my egg, I see… / green.” When a monarch butterfly comes to “sip nectar from a nearby flower” the caterpillar refers to it as Orange. The butterfly tells the caterpillar, “Once, I was just like you on this milkweed plant.” The caterpillar longs to see more than the leaves nearby: “I can’t wait to fly with Orange.” The butterfly tells the caterpillar about what she sees from above: flowers blooming, forest, ocean, a schoolyard. She says that one day the caterpillar will be able to see these things for itself, but the butterfly won’t be there: “I must go. We all must, someday.” Halliday’s bold, frequently full-bleed digital collages have an impressive sense of depth and realistically depict the colors of the insects and flora, but they anthropomorphize by giving large, round, glossy, expressive eyes to both butterfly and larva. The gentle conversations between caterpillar and butterfly reach for a metaphor along with the factual depiction of the monarch’s life cycle, but the result is that both story and science are somewhat weakened. Backmatter briefly describes the life cycle and mentions the annual migration of each season’s last generation.

This introduction to a well-loved butterfly species meets with mixed success. (bibliography) (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews