Little Curiosity

A dual language children’s picture book. This is a story about exploring and looking at the world around afresh, and of finding a new way to express yourself. Thank you to Atmosphere Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

A quickly-read, bilingual Spanish/English effort, that has a lowly caterpillar and her life in the tree she calls home. But one day she reads "50 Shades of Grey" and her life is irrevocably changed. Oh, no, wait a minute – it's not quite that. No, what actually happens is she gets to explore a lot, and then realises that the world is not just black and white – it is instead multiple variants of the colour in between. But once in her cocoon, that's when she gets hit full-on by colour, and uses the time to make something so beautiful and wonderful she can only respond positively to the rest of the world upon being reborn, and go out and discover it all.

This has the usual approach to the butterfly metaphor – from deep within a grubby grub comes something miraculous – but done with just enough variety to make this worth considering. The artwork is pretty decent, too, growing and growing in colourfulness as things progress. It's no world-beating, essential purchase, but it certainly succeeds in showing this insect's world is a marvel peopled by marvels and is worth adoring.

I loved the illustrations in this book, and how the color scheme went from black and white to color. The bilingual aspect was also delightful.

***I apologize for such a light review. I read the book, had personal issues come up, and forgot to review. I recall finding the book delightful.***