BROKEN BUTTERFLY WINGS / ALAS DE MARIPOSA ROTAS

 

 

By Raquel M. Ortiz

Illustrations by Carrie Salazar

 

ISBN:  978-1-55885-922-7

Publication Date:  October 31, 2021

Format:  Hardcover

Pages:  32

Imprint: Piñata Books

Ages: 4-8

 

 

Bilingual picture book celebrates the importance of imagination while introducing kids to the Puerto Rican rainforest!

 

Gabriela is super excited when her gift from Titi Sylvia finally arrives. She loves the colorful, glittery butterfly wings! She stands in the middle of her room and flaps and flaps her new wings, but nothing happens. She jumps off her bed, vigorously moving the wings up and down, but again, nada. She hops down the hallway and the stairs, but she still can’t fly!

 

Disappointed, Gabriela goes to the garage, digs into her father’s toolbox and sets about trying to fix the broken butterfly wings. Maybe she can add a battery or an engine. Her father has a better idea, though, and encourages her to close her eyes and think about where she would like to fly. Soon she is envisioning El Yunque, a rainforest on the island of Puerto Rico that is full of tall green trees, humming waterfalls and chattering birds. She can even hear the coquí, a tiny tree frog that lives only on the island, singing its special song: coquí-coquí.

 

Demonstrating the joy found in using one’s imagination, this bilingual picture book depicts a young girl drawing on her senses—smell, hearing, sight—to return to a beloved place. Kids will appreciate the beauty of the rainforest’s birds, frogs and other natural wonders while admiring a strong girl willing to create solutions to problems.

 

 

RAQUEL M. ORTIZ was born and raised in Lorain, Ohio, of Puerto Rican parents. She is the author of the bilingual picture books: When Julia Danced Bomba / Cuando Julia bailaba bomba (Piñata Books, 2019), Sofi Paints Her Dreams / Sofi pinta sus sueños (Piñata Books, 2019) and Sofi and the Magic, Musical Mural / Sofi y el mágico mural musical (Arte Público Press, 2015). She has worked at the Brooklyn Museum, the Allen Memorial Art Museum and El Museo del Barrio. Currently, she creates educational material for the Puerto Rican Heritage Cultural Ambassadors Program at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York City.

 

CARRIE SALAZAR, the daughter of immigrants, illustrated Odin, Dog Hero of the Fires (West Margin Press, 2020). She grew up in a small community in southeastern Louisiana, and now lives in California with her family and many pets.