Today's read... Butterfly Girl by Ashling Kwok

BUTTERFLY GIRL

by Ashling Kwok

Illustrated by Arielle Li

EK Books

Picture Book

32 pages

ages 4 to 8

Olivia and her butterfly friends spend all of their time together, until one day everything changes, and Olivia and her mother move to an apartment in the city. Olivia is heartbroken because she doesn’t want to leave her butterfly friends behind but her mother assures her that she will make new friends in the city. When Olivia and her mum arrive in the city, it’s so grey and gloomy that everyone is sheltering inside. Olivia waits for new friends to come and play but no -one appears. So Olivia stands on her empty concrete apartment balcony and calls out to her butterfly friends ― because they always come when she needs them. But this time, even her butterfly friends don’t appear. Then Olivia remembers that butterflies need colourful nectar plants, a puddle pool and rocks to rest their wings on, but Olivia doesn’t have a garden anymore so she decides to build a butterfly balcony garden using whatever she can find. Olivia waits and waits and waits but her butterflies stay away. Just as Olivia is about to lose hope, a gust of wind blows flowers from her balcony garden across the grey sky and onto her neighbours’ balconies. People of all ages and cultural ethnicities appear on their balconies to pick up the flowers, and Olivia suddenly knows exactly what she needs to do to attract (human and butterfly) friends.

GOODREADS    /    AMAZON    /    B&N

MY TIDBITS

The sorrow of moving and leaving friends behind flows in a gentle story with hope and heart.

Olivia is constantly surrounded by butterflies, but when her family moves from the countryside to an apartment in the middle of a city, these beautiful insects are nowhere to be found. Olivia isn't about to give up and decides to create an inviting atmosphere...and maybe, her colorful friends will find her. But instead, everything takes a different and exciting twist.

This story takes a look at the sadness of moving and leaving friends behind, but takes a gentle and playful approach. The first pages open up with Olivia surrounded by a rainbow of butterflies. It presents a natural and carefree atmosphere, which offers a huge contrast to the gray and empty balcony of the apartment, where Olivia spends her time after the family's move. Her sadness touches the heart and young readers will feel the heaviness right along with Olivia. 

My favorite aspect of this read is Olivia's decision to take matters into her own hands. She's determined to give her best to change the gray emptiness into a place of vibrant life and lure her friends back to her. The result of her efforts spread quickly and offer the hope and joy to round everything off nicely. This creates an uplifting message, which can be read time and time again.

Today's read... A Star For Mama by Ashling Kwok

Today's read hits a super sweet character and sends him on a journey to catch a star. I thought the cover was adorable and was very curious what this little penguin would be like. The book is coming out March 28th...and I'm just going to already say that this is one you might want to keep your eyes on. Yep, it's going onto my possible favorites of 2023 list!

A STAR FOR MAMA

by Ashling Kwok

Illustrated by Kathy Creamer

Little Pink Dog Books

Picture Book

A baby penguin tries to catch a shooting star for his mama’s birthday but gets lost along the way.  

Will Kip ever get the chance to show his mama how much he loves her?  

Find out in this charming story that celebrates the power of love and the special bond between mother and child. 

BOOK DEPOSITORY: https://www.bookdepository.com/Star-For-Mama-Ashling-Kwok/9780648964131

PUBLISHER: https://littlepinkdogbooks.com/a-star-for-muma/

MY TIDBITS

This is such an adorable, cuddle-up-with read, which takes a cute penguin, mixes it with Mama-magic and chases the stars.

Kip is a baby penguin, who loves his mother very much. While star gazing, his mother comments how beautiful the stars are, and that sets off an idea. Kip has decided that he's going to secretly catch a star for his mother. This isn't as easy as he'd hoped, and soon he's off on adventure.

This books has so many things, which make it grabbing. Firstly, there's a sweet, baby penguin, who is as innocent and loving as can be. Then, there's the mother-child love, which will have young readers and listeners wanting to snuggle up with their own parent. With the search for a star, a little excitement sets in, and humor as well as danger, too. Of course, the ending rounds it off to guarantee smiles and warmth, making it rounded and enjoyable.

These penguins live on a green beach with grass and a friendly dog staying nearby. They live in wooden boxes which are buried in the beach. This will confuse some young listeners and opens up an entire conversation about these habitats for penguins. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't something in the book about this, but that disappointment is very small, since there is tons of other goodness. 

There are small things in the details, which make this really a lovely read. For example, Kip attempts to chase after stars with his net, stumbling along, and not even noticing that a fox almost gets him. These extras add things for listeners to discover with future reads, and give the entire thing a little more depth than many picture books have. Also, there is a list of penguin facts at the end, which adds to the learning fun.

The illustrations are very well done and create wonderful scenes. Kip comes across adorable and, yet, a little clumsy...but then, everything is nicely laid out.

In other words, this is an adorable read with tons of goodness, too.

And here they are...

Ashling wrote her first picture book when she was 14 years old. Although it never saw the light of day, Ashling knew from that day onwards that she wanted to spend the rest of her life writing for children.

After graduating from University, Ashling went on to become a journalist before setting up her own freelance writing company. Over the years, Ashling’s work has appeared in a number of newspapers and magazines, and she is a regular contributor to a variety of online publications.

Ashling’s first picture book, Where’s my Dinosaur? (Yellow Brick Books) is due for release in late 2019. This will be followed by Lola and Grandpa (Little Pink Dog Books) and The Battle (EK Books) in 2020.

When she’s not dreaming up new ideas or working on her latest book, Ashling can be found scouring local bookstores, marvelling at all the wonderful books being created by talented children’s authors.

Kathy has always dreamed of illustrating children’s picture books, but the opportunity to do so didn’t present itself until her own children arrived. Since then she has written and illustrated many award winning picture books. When not busy creating her own artwork, Kathy helps run Little Pink Dog Books with her husband, Peter.

Kathy’s recent publications, where she has either written or illustrated, the content are Cock-A-Doodle-Doo! (2022), Lucky’s Horse Shoes (2022), Peanut (2022), A Squiggly Line (2022), Mr Ming and the Mooncake Dragon (2021), The Big Old Rambutan Tree (2020), Join The Armidale Parade! (2019), Bigger Than Yesterday, Smaller Than Tomorrow (2018) and See Monkey (2018).

Kathy is looking forward to illustrating Ashling’s next picture book A Grandma to Love, in 2023.