The Butterfly - Author Study

Of the three books I read by Patricia Polacco, The Butterfly was definitely my favorite. This is a story of a young girl who wakes up one night when the Nazis are occupying Paris and sees another girl in her room. The other girl is frightened and flees out of the room. When she asks her mother about this other girl, her mother scolds her and tells her never to talk of this other girl again. The girl, Monique, and the mysterious girl in her room, Sevrine, become friends and Monique finds out that Sevrine and her family are Jewish and hiding in her basement. Throughout the story, Monique learns a lot about what the Nazis are doing to the Jewish people. Without giving away the whole story, I will say that Monique's friendship with Sevrine teaches her about hope and friendship.

I believe this would be an excellent book to have in my classroom, especially if we were discussing Anne Frank, the Nazis, or any World War II topic really. There is also a bit of French vocabulary such as papillon for butterfly and Maman for mother. Children could learn so much from this book without even realizing they are learning. The most amazing part was that this, along with Patricia Polacco's other stories, is true. This particular story is about Monique, her aunt.