Kirkus Reviews - March 1st,
2002
The prolific, multitalented Coville (Half-human, 2001, etc.)
takes off in a different direction with this unusual story of a boy who
bonds with a migrating flock of monarch butterflies, emphasizing so
strongly with their plight of diminishing habitat that he actually
briefly becomes one of them. The boy, John Farrington, leads the
butterflies to a new habitat, and repeats his unusual transformation
(from boy to butterfly and back again) several times until he leaves for
college to become an entomologist. Farrington, presumably a
historical figure, becomes a butterfly researcher (though he can't bear
to collect specimens) and was instrumental in the successful passage of
the "Butterfly Road" bill in Congress, helping to preserve
monarchs as a species. The rather long story concludes with
Farrington as an elderly wheelchair-bound man, visited by a swarm of
monarchs who carry him away in one final transforming moment. Clapp
(Right Here on This Spot, 1999, etc.) provides magical misty
watercolor illustrations that turn a rather unbelievable story into a
meaningful fairy tale with an ecological message and a comforting,
metaphorical view of life after death. Some will find this story
lightweight and sentimental; others will see the trajectory of meaning
inherent in a committed life. (Picture book. 6-9)
Normally, I don't comment
on these reviews, but just a note for the reader here: "Farrington,
presumably a historical figure"---was not---The Prince of
Butterflies is a work of fiction. Though as a trivia aside,
"John Farrington" was actually the birth name of Bruce's
father, and a flock of butterflies did land on Bruce's house the day
after his 11th birthday.
As far as I know, Bruce never turned into a butterfly or became a
lepidopterist.
