BUTTERFLY WINGS

A boy fears climate change.

Ten-year-old Florent, a light-skinned child with pale brown hair and blue eyes, “isn’t like other kids”; he’s energetic and sensitive, which might be an attempt at indicating unspecified neurodiversity, since children are often emotionally labile and exuberant. One evening he overhears his mothers (both light-skinned like him) discussing whether they should have another baby; one of them mentions her climate-related anxieties and wonders if it’s wise to bring another child into the world. Florent feels immediately implicated and spirals out over the next few days, imagining numerous horrific possible futures, depicted in equally distressing illustrations. When Florent finally shares his concerns with his parents, they tell him that Mamochka is already pregnant and that they can “stop buying things we don’t need” and “hope the world will heal in time,” but people “should NEVER stop having children.” The subtitle of this book belies the interior, which is more likely to substantiate fears than soothe them given the detailed nightmares and vague, ultimately unhelpful resolution. The stilted voice throughout, occasional lapses into an adult’s perspective, stiff artwork, and unnecessarily voluminous page count will make this tale, translated from French, a hard sell to families and schools alike. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

As anxiety-producing as the news.