Author/Illustrator: Patricia Polacco
Genre: Historical Fiction
Grade level: 3-7
In The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco, a small girl named Monique lives in a French village that has just been flooded with Nazi soldiers who are terrorizing the town. She symbolizes the butterfly as the Nazis' victims. One night, Monique finds a little girl named Sevrine, whom she thought to be a ghost, sitting at the end of her bed. Sevrine had been living in her basement because she and her family were Jews.The two become friends, but must meet privately. The neighbor saw the two so Sevrine's family had to flee. In the end, Sevrine sends a letter to Monique with a butterfly inside saying she is the only one in her family to survive.
The illustrator is Patricia Polacco herself. The illustrations give a ghostly vibe to the book, while the texts also add a harsh light to this disheartening story. She uses watercolors to create images that evoke feelings of fear and sadness as well as hope at the end.
Through this story, the topics of racism, prejudice, and bravery can be discussed in the classroom. This book is a very appropriate read for students ages nine through twelve. It teaches history to students in a new way than just reading text books about World War II. This gives them a story that was based off of real life events.
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