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  • Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China

Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China

Author
Deborah Noyes
Illustrator
Sophie Blackall
Publication Date
February 12, 2019
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction /  4th − 5th
Language
English
Format
Picture Book
Red Butterfly: How a Princess Smuggled the Secret of Silk Out of China
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Description

An enchanting tale of hidden beauty and fierce courage, retold in the style of T'ang Dynasty poetry and illustrated with charm and grace.  A young Chinese princess is sent from her father's kingdom to marry the king of a far-off land.

She must leave behind her home of splendors: sour plums and pink peach petals and -- most precious and secret of all -- the small silkworm. She begs her father to let her stay, but he insists that she go and fulfill her destiny as the queen of Khotan.

Beautifully told and arrestingly illustrated, here is a coming-of-age tale of a brave young princess whose clever plan will go on to live in legend -- and will ensure that her cherished home is with her always.

Publication date
February 12, 2019
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781536203769
Lexile Measure
880
Guided Reading Level
P
Publisher
Candlewick Press (MA)
BISAC categories
JUV048000 - Juvenile Fiction | Clothing & Dress
JUV034000 - Juvenile Fiction | Royalty (kings queens princes princesses knights etc.)
JUV012060 - Juvenile Fiction | Legends, Myths, Fables | Asian
Library of Congress categories
Fiction
Picture books
Picture books for children
Princesses
Juvenile works
Children's stories
China
Silkworms

ALA/Booklist

Adult readers will want to prepare in advance for questions about occasional references to the Chinese court (for example, “What is a consort?”), but the princess’ sorrow over leaving the people and things that tie her to home will speak straight to kids—as will the beautiful, ink-and-watercolor illustrations in rich, jewel colors.

Kirkus

Starred Review

Written in the style of ancient Chinese poets, the text dwells lovingly on the pleasures of imperial life while splendid ink-and-watercolor illustrations poignantly capture the princess's leave-taking as well as details of palace life in images evocative of Chinese screen paintings.


Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Ancient sources say silkworms and mulberry seeds left China hidden in the elaborately coiffed hair of a princess. Imagining what might have prompted the princess to reveal the secret of silk production, a crime punishable by death, Noyes (Hana in the Time of the Tulips) writes with exquisite delicacy of Princess Red Butterfly's truncated girlhood: "I am a child with my hair/ yet cut across my forehead,/ but soon I will marry/ the king of far Khotan." Blackall (Ruby's Wish) composes sumptuous portraits of the imperial Chinese court: ladies whisper behind fans, consorts bathe in hot springs, a dressmaker fits the princess for a robe. Her ink-and-wash spreads swirl with flourishes (fluttering silk sashes, curving garden paths and tumbling locks of black hair). Red Butterfly must leave her parents, her little brother-whose grief Blackall paints in quiet brushstrokes-and all the beauty around her: "Good-bye,/ red-crowned crane. / Good-bye,/ sour plums." Noyes understands Red Butterfly's theft as a small but powerful rebellion against loss: "If you must go.... from all you know,/ take with you/ some small piece/ of brightness,/ some shining memory..." The story ends as Red Butterfly leaves for Khotan, but Blackall gives readers visual clues (the princess's smile, flying silk moths) to suggest that the girl's resilience creates a hopeful future. Ages 6-10. 

Copyright 2007 Publisher’s Weekly, LLC Used with permission.


Deborah Noyes

Deborah Noyes is the author of nonfiction and fiction for young readers and adults, including Lady Icarus, Ten Days a Madwoman, A Hopeful Heart, The Magician and the Spirits, and The Ghosts of Kerfol. She has also compiled and edited the short story anthologies Gothic!, The Restless Dead, and Sideshow.

M. Duffy resides in Richmond, Virginia with their husband Kyle and four cats. Rev, a female orange tabby, leads their clowder of familiars. Every drawing is personally supervised by Rev's keen eye. Duffy is a cartoonist, printmaker, educator and officiant, and has drawn for such companies as AMC, Archaia, and Dark Horse. They think storytelling is the coolest, most human thing ever and intend to do that until the day they die.

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