Book review: Kai and the Dancing Butterfly

Book review for "Kai and the Dancing Butterfly"

Written by Crystal Z. Lee

Illustrated by Allie Su

Published by Balestier Press

Picture book, informational text embedded in a story

The information about Taiwan cities, parks and landmarks in this book is framed inside a story told by a purple butterfly named Kia who is travelling from north to south across the island. This references an actual biological event that happens each winter when hundreds of thousands of purple crow butterflies travel hundreds of kilometers to Maolin on the south of the island. The book includes mentions either in text or illustration of indigenous tribes of Taiwan, and unique Taiwanese fauna. At the end of the book is an extensive glossary of mentioned landmarks, with names in both English and Chinese, and brief descriptions. 

The overall effect is of a tour guide to Taiwan, aimed at young children. This would be fun for both children visiting Taiwan for the first time, as well as children who have moved away from Taiwan and are feeling homesick. Additionally, elementary classrooms that are studying the geography or history of Taiwan would benefit from this title. 

The illustrations are brightly colored and styled like cute cartoons, with features that are large enough for small children but detailed enough that kids will want to study them.

The text is at times a bit wordy, and sometimes the color contrast over the illustrations makes it difficult to decipher. Beginning readers will need help reading through the text.

This book will be a welcome addition to rather sparse children's books about Taiwan, particularly for the K-2 age group. I can easily see a child newly moved to our school from Taiwan finding a lot of comfort in this book, and teachers will appreciate a title that lends itself well to a classroom readaloud, since it has a narrative through-line instead of just a collection of facts.