Butterflies for Kiri

May 1, 2003
K-Gr 3-A Japanese-American child receives an origami kit for her birthday. The brightly colored papers are "as thin as butterfly wings" and she handles them with care and reverence, spreading them out "like a rainbow." Kiri pores over the diagrams in the instruction book and tries to "Fold crisply!" and "Crease sharply!" The steps become more complicated and when the delicate sheet tears, she cries in frustration. Afraid of ripping another piece, she puts the papers away. As time passes, Kiri enjoys other artistic pursuits, like painting and chalk drawing, but she is still intrigued by the art of origami and continues to practice her folds on notebook paper. When her watercolors run together and make a soggy hole in the center of her picture, she finds another use for the origami papers. She cuts out flower shapes and as she glues them on her painting, "The colors began to dance." Feeling emboldened, she selects a sheet of yellow and successfully folds it into a butterfly. Falwell's cut- and-torn-paper collages are the perfect medium for the story. Kiri's disappointments are realistically captured, as is her creative spirit. Instructions on how to make an origami butterfly are included. Use this title with Virginia Kroll's Pink Paper Swans (Eerdmans, 1994) and Rosemary Wells's Yoko's Paper Cranes (Hyperion, 2001) to introduce this ancient art.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada

Copyright 2003 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2004
A Japanese-American girl overcomes her frustration in tackling the challenging art of paper folding. Directions for an origami butterfly are included. Pair this with one of the butterfly books listed in the science section below.

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2003
K-Gr. 2. Colorful and bright, this story of frustration and determination will appeal to children who have experienced both. Young Kiri likes to do art, so when she receives an origami set, she can hardly wait to start folding the thin, beautiful tissue. But she tears the tissue and is afraid she might ruin more. She works on other art projects, all the while practicing making an origami on regular paper. One day she tries to paint a spring scene, but she makes a mistake that she thinks has ruined her picture. Then she has an idea. Using the origami paper, she creates a flower that she glues to her picture, adds more flowers, and finally gets up the courage to make the butterfly she has been practicing. The cut-and-torn paper collages are just the right medium for this story, and Falwell uses her papers to good effect--sometimes very simply, sometimes in elaborate ways--to capture both the enthusiasm of the child and the enthusiasm apparent in Kiri's art. A final page offers instructions for making an origami butterfly; as with Kiri, it may take children a while to master the project, but they should enjoy practicing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2003
Artistic expression is the subject of this encouraging picture book, illustrated in cut- and torn-paper collage. Kiri gets origami paper for her birthday, but her attempts at folding leave the beautiful paper creased and torn. A combination of practice and inspiration finally enables Kiri to make the art she wants. Instructions for folding an origami butterfly conclude the book.

(Copyright 2003 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)