AND…

This French import by way of Australia explores the potential consequences of disturbing a butterfly from its perch on a flower.

A White adult in a teal sheath dress and pumps admonishes a White child: “No! Don’t touch the butterfly! / If you do, it will fly away / and…” (cue page turn). Borrowing some of its if/then logic from the now-classic If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and its successors, the narrative thereby launches into a series of conjunctive contingencies linked by that cliffhanging “and…” on each right-hand page’s lower corner. The butterfly will dislodge a petal, which will fall on a dung beetle, causing its dung ball to fall into a river, blocking the flow and engendering the failure of a dam. The funniest what-if sequence involves a flooded-out mole biting the butt of a bear napping at the exit of the mole’s home. As the cautionary narrative enlarges its hyperbolic suppositions, the child cries “STOP! // I promise / I won’t touch the butterfly, / and… // this flower is for you….” As the child proffers the picked flower, a petal detaches just above a dung beetle pushing its ball. A final close-up of the petal hurtling toward the dung beetle offers a look at its impending predicament, inviting children to reimagine the tale’s predicted events.

Wacky physics, appealing critters, and crisp, retro illustrations combine for a solid outing.