Butterflies and Bottlecaps

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

This gentle, heartwarming tale concerns a beautiful little girl who has
butterflies for hair, who fears that she is strange because she has
never met another girl with hair like hers. Her mother tells her that
she is strong, funny, kind, and good-hearted. But the child remains shy
and embarrassed until a dream frees her to accept herself. Later, she
meets a girl with tinkling bottlecaps for hair. The two, who accept
their differences, become friends and play together.

Eliza Clark, the author of two adult novels (one shortlisted for the
Trillium and Stephen Leacock awards and the other shortlisted for the
Giller prize), tells the story with delicacy and restrained feeling.
Vladyana Krykorka’s illustrations are wonderfully imaginary and
fanciful, yet anchored securely in a world that children will recognize.
Highly recommended.