La mariposa; illustrated by Simón Silva.

by Francisco Jiménez

Book Overview

In his first year of school, Francisco understands little of what his teacher says. But he is drawn to the silent, slow-moving caterpillar in the jar next to his desk. He knows caterpillars turn into butterflies, but just how do they do it? To find out, he studies the words in a butterfly book so many times that he can close his eyes and see the black letters, but he still can't understand their meaning. Illustrated with paintings as deep and rich...

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: 0439687632
• ISBN13: 9780439687638
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Scholastic

Customer Reviews

La Mariposa-Briseida Ramos

Book Review: La Mariposa--Briseida Ramos La Mariposa by Francisco Jimenez, is about a small boy named Francisco who is headed to his first day of school. Francisco does not know English and in school that is the only way of communicating or he'll get in to trouble if he starts speaking in first first language which is Spanish. Francisco gets in trouble a few times because he doesn't pay attention to the teacher because he doesn't understand her, so he day dreams most of the time because his head hurts from trying to understand what she is trying to say. Many children in school do not accept him because everyone else speaks English except his friend, Arthur. Later on his friend, Arthur avoids Francisco because he doesn't want to get in trouble from speaking Spanish. Francisco faces a lot of obstacles in trying to fit in school with everyone else. He gets into a fight with another boy because of a jacket that the principle had given him from the lost and found, finding out later on that it belongs to Curtis, the other boy. The teacher Miss. Scalapino gives them an assignment which Francisco doesn't understand, so she decides to le4t him draw whatever he wants. Because of this assignment Francisco starts fitting in with the other students. Francisco decides to sketch out a drawing of a butterfly and the teacher likes it a places it on the board. Francisco receives first place for his drawing and everyone rush to see the blue ribbon placed on the drawing. Everyone starts accepting Francisco and at the end they all look at a butterfly come out of its cocoon. The story shows transformations in where bicultural and bilingual differences in a child can be accepted by others. There are many difficult circumstances that go through the life of someone that has a limit in communication and acceptance from others, but his story shows how it is accepted and can be accepted because differences make us unique. Those differences make us who we are in the form that we are not that different. Jimenez shows the importance of transformation and acceptance throughout a child's life and how there are many that can go through this. The book is a good book to have in any grade level because it shows the benefit that either kindergarten through any grade, but especially the elementary level students can learn from real life experiences. Elementary is a good level to start showing children the importance that we are all equal, in a unique way. Illustrations, done by Simon Silva show the richness in colors of the culture. Brown, orange, and other colors are portrayed together and show a vivid picture of how the fields look like when a person awakes in the morning. The colors of the sun coming out and going in show the relation of reality. Francisco Jimenez shows his life through writing his books, especially in The Circuit. Francisco Jiménez uses stories from his own life to portray what it's like to be a child who must hide from truant officer

Fly Free, Butterfly, Fly Free!

Having read "The Circuit" by the same author, I was eager to read "La Mariposa" to my younger students. Francisco Jimenez creates beautifully written semi-autobiographical stories about life as a child of a family of migrant farmers from Mexico. The the eyes of the main character, Francisco, we experience a child's first day in a new school, where he is the object of stares and, at the hands of a bully, ridicule. However, Francisco is a dreamer, and he conveys his dreams through beautiful pictures of... butterflies. The goodness of his teacher and classmates shine through in the end of this beautiful and sensitive story as they admire his artwork and share in his dream.

LA Mariposa

The book was written true-to-life and it uses appropriate spelling words for young students and wonderful Spanish words for everyone. Excellent color illustrations. I would recommend this book to an adult or older student so they could read it to a younger child, K through the 4th grade.