Butterfly Brain

By Author / Illustrator

Laura Dockrill, Gwen Millward

Genre

Bereavement

Age range(s)

Publisher

Templar Publishing

ISBN

9781848128682

Format

Hardback

Published

03-09-2020

Synopsis

If Roald Dahl had written A Monster Calls . . . A very special picture book from two rising stars.

Everyone is always shouting at Gus to stop leaning back in his chair - but does he care? No way! Then sure enough, the chair falls, he cracks his head and has to spend all summer in bed. Out of the crack escape his memories, dreams and imagination... and a beautiful little butterfly guide. Gus must follow the butterfly to recapture all he's lost, including that locked box he doesn't seem to want to touch...

Together they remember fish fingers, snapping bubble wrap, cracked pink soap and the leaky tap; they go wild, stomping around in the joy of imagination and happy dreams - but they can't go any further if Gus won't gather all of his memories. His butterfly will die unless Gus is ready to hear about his mum...

A delightful and moving exploration of grief and the joy that makes us human, from the effervescent voice of Laura Dockrill, with heartwarming full-colour illustrations from Gwen Millward.

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Reviews

Butterfly Brain is a unique and compelling rhythmically told story of defiant and angry young Gus - a boy who NEVER ever listens, especially when told not to lean back on his chair!

When Gus falls backwards and cracks his head, out come all his dreams, memories and feelings. All the experiences and imagination seeps out, including his very own brain butterfly that guides and protects him. Gus must collect up all his escaped memories with his butterfly to help and even unlock and face his most painful loss and grief.

Butterfly Brain takes the reader through emotional highs and lows, from the shocked laughter at Gus' rude, insolent behaviours to delighted disgust as he falls from his chair unleashing blood, gunge and snot. Along also come more sobering, intense and, at times, unsettling scenes as Gus rediscovers his dark dreams of a 'Maggot Man' .These ghoulish, grotesque verses put me in mind of Tim Burton films and created a nerve shredding terror at just the right level to thrill and chill a younger audience.

Set against these black, sinister nightmares are some beautifully written verses that show the joy and comfort Gus's butterfly can guide him to. The language of Butterfly Brain is rich and full of vivid imagery . The absolutely stunning illustrations elevate the story further and intensify its emotional effect on the reader and are just the right blend of the darker, shadowy images of Gus's fears and the softness and warm colours of his positive memories about those most important to him. The gentleness and warmth of the final pages are powerful, overwhelmingly comforting and sensitive .

I loved that the author and illustrator alike didn't gloss over the dark moments that children experience in their grief and how their imaginations may play out their sense of loss and yet balanced that perfectly with the comfort and love that they send out to the reader at the end of the book. An absorbing story.

80 pages / Reviewed by Jennifer Caddick, teacher