The lemon butterfly searches for a field of flowers. The journey is long and dangerous but the lemon butterfly is determined to find the field. After what feels like weeks of flying the lemon butterfly sees the beautiful flowers but:
"The fragrance grows stronger once again. According to the white horse, the field of flowers lies just beyond the low hills. The hills appear before the lemon butterfly. But when it flies over them, what it sees makes it scream. The field is flooded ... the flowers float crystal clear under the water."
How will the fragile butterfly ever reach the flowers? The ending is certain to astonish you.
In 2017 I was able to attend the USBBY National conference held in Seattle at the University of Washington. At this amazing event Cao Wenxuan told us the story of Lemon Butterfly. He spoke in Chinese and his words were translated as he told the story. Then the wonderful Roger Mello showed us all the book. The organisers held an auction of this copy and it was sold for over US$1700. Of course the real book is no where near as expensive as this. When I came home to Australia I asked the nephew of a friend to try to find the Chinese edition of Lemon Buttterfly for me on his visit to China. I think it cost around AUS$15. At that time this book was not yet translated into English. Last week my English edition arrived. It will be available from 28th February, 2021 here in Australia. So now I have two, very different copies, of Lemon Butterfly.
More about the story written just after the 2017 USBBY conference (Chinese books for Young Readers Blog)
The second picture book by Cao and Mello is called Lemon Butterfly 柠檬蝶, currently in the original Chinese version only. A lemon butterfly goes on an arduous journey to search for a field of flowers, crossing rivers and mountains and getting lost before it finally reaches the field, only to find that flowers have been submerged under water. The surprise ending gives a philosophical spin to the story, which also presents environmental concerns. Cao told the audience that he studied philosophy for fifteen years, and has found the format of the picture book perfect for expressing philosophical issues.
In the story, the butterfly takes an accidental detour by following the scent of flowers wafting from hoof prints in the mud. Cao revealed the cultural reference behind the scene as a line from Chinese poetry, “Returning from treading on fallen flowers, even horse hooves are scented” (踏花归来马蹄香). The poem famously inspired Chinese brush paintings that depict butterflies dancing around hoof prints.
I talked to Roger Mello in Austin, Texas at the next USBBY Conference. He was kind enough to send me the text of the story as sent to him by Cao Wenxuan. This means I have this book in three different formats - the Chinese book which as you can see here spreads right out, the new English edition, and a word document of the original translated text sent to Roger Mello.
Mello made the picture book accordion style, and cut out the shape of butterflies, rather than illustrate them. As he explained, instead of showing butterflies, he decided to portray the absence of them.
About the author:
Cao Wenxuan 曹文轩 is an award winning novelist from Jiangsu Province, China. He is the Vice President of the Beijing Writers’ Association and a professor at Peking University. His works include The Straw House, Dragonfly Eye, and Bronze and Sunflower. He was the first Chinese writer to be awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award. His novels have been translated into eight languages.
About the illustrator:
Roger Mello is an award winning illustrator and author. He has illustrated over 100 titles, 22 of which he also wrote. His unique style and sense of color continues to push the boundaries of children’s book illustration. He was the first Latin American artist to be awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award.
The new English edition does not list the translator. Here are a few samples of the text:
To a butterfly, a field of flowers is the most beautiful thing in the world. And as it moves, the vision of a flower field flashes before its eyes. Scintillating!
Wind whips over the water, nearly crushing the butterfly against the spray, but it perseveres. Perhaps there is a field of flowers ahead. It hears the rumbling of the waters. But the murmuring of its heart is louder. "I must find that field of flowers!"
In Australia the paperback edition of Lemon Butterfly is fairly inexpensive. This book would make a good addition to a Primary or High School library. I also found this alternate Chinese edition. I am not sure of the illustrator:
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