The Butterfly
Written and illustrated by: Patricia Polacco
Published by: Puffin Books, 2009
48 Pages
Historical Fiction
Monique's home and city has been terrorized by the Nazis, but the young girl is oblivious to what is really going around her. Until she finds Sevrine, a young Jewish girl who has been hiding in her basement. A friendship ensues, but is this friendship enough to save the girls when the Nazis find out?
Polacco's illustrations portray the horrors of hatred and increases the emotional impact on young readers. She uses dark images to signify the sad, horrible, and eerie Holocaust. However, the bond shared by the young girls is bright and cheerful.
In sixth grade, students learn about the events leading up to World War II, including the Holocaust, so I would read this to shed the light and darkness of such a horrible time in history. Then, I would have the students write about what they would do if they were Monique: protect their new friend or turn her in... For ELL students or special needs students, I would provide images and sentence starters to help them with their writing.
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