The Paper Butterfly follows a delicate butterfly as she emerges from her glass cocoon and takes flight while protecting a tiny monarch egg till it hatches and joins her on her adventure. What was the inspiration for your story?

My garden is a registered Monarch Waystation and a Canadian Wildlife Federation Habitat Garden. Three summers ago, while placing the tiny Monarch Watch paper ID tags on a couple of newly eclosed monarchs, I felt compelled to write and illustrate a story about their migration south to help raise awareness about this amazing species.

My protagonist in the book, a paper butterfly, evolved because the Monarch Watch tags are made of paper. A single piece of paper is also known as a ‘leaf of paper’, and monarch butterflies shelter under leaves for protection against the elements. From these connections, the idea for ‘The Paper Butterfly’ was born.

What were some educational aspects that were important for you to include in this children’s book?

When I worked as a teacher of the deaf one 13-year-old once said to me ‘Mrs Kingdon, you don’t teach us. We just have fun and I learn.’ It made me think about both education and the way most of us continue to learn through life. We absorb information when we are engaged; when we laugh or cry, get angry or empathize, not when we are given a list of isolated facts that have no meaning. It was the student’s words that echoed in my mind as I wrote The Paper Butterfly. As we laugh with, cry with, or feel many other emotions with her, we too are absorbing information.

I wanted the book to appeal on many levels to different age groups because, as both a teacher and a parent, I know that, even if it is essentially a story for children, it won’t be just children who will read, or become engaged in the book.

To the young, the paper butterfly will probably become as real as any butterfly in their minds. They will learn about the environment and marvel at the magic of metamorphosis with her. They will hopefully want to track her adventures on maps and follow her process as she migrates. A teenager, on the other hand, might be encouraged to reflect on what true beauty is and take on board the message the veteran monarch conveys. They might also empathize with the paper butterfly as she tries to find how she fits into the world and what her ultimate purpose is. To a mother reading the book, their focus may be more on the caring and love that the paper butterfly shows others. To someone who loves nature, whatever their age, it may encourage them to discover more about raising and tagging monarchs or making their garden a more pollinator-friendly environment. To someone older, it might encourage them to look more closely at the world around them and notice the small pockets of magic that the paper butterfly is so good at seeing.

If the book encourages people to dwell upon the questions the paper butterfly asks as she interacts with the world around her then, to me, it has been successful; if there is discussion or reflection afterwards, even better. Many of the questions the paper butterfly asks have no right or wrong answer and this in itself is an important thing to learn especially when reading to or working with children. Very little in life is black or white, yes or no. There are so many factors that can affect things including our experiences. Knowing that it is ok not to know the whole answer at that moment is important too. If we want to improve our world these are the things we need to be encouraging.

What scene in the book did you have the most fun writing?

As a young child, I grew up in the world of the theatre, so bringing the characters to life in the book was the part I enjoyed the most. Each animal that the paper butterfly meets became real in my mind. I imagined the Karner Blue butterfly that the paper butterfly meets early in her adventures as a knowledgeable university professor, the father of the Child of the Moon as a battle-worn veteran returning from duty, and the spider, who is my only animal antagonist in the book, as one of the witches of Macbeth to name but a few. All three were such fun to bring to life. My favourite part to write, however, was when the paper butterfly first met the Child of the Moon. As my two main characters of the book, I wanted to form a strong bond between them from the onset, and having such a young, innocent character to play with meant I could really have fun with it. I have made a short video of me reading a small snippet from this first interaction. I hope you enjoy listening to it.

What next book are you working on, and when will it be available?

I actually liken the creation of any book to the metamorphosis of a butterfly. At first, you have the small egg of an idea. The ideas grow and seem like a lumbering caterpillar with too many legs. The idea needs to be broken back down to the essence of what I want to convey, then and only then can I let my imagination truly fly. With my next book, I am still at the lumbering caterpillar stage, with way too many legs or ideas, so I am slowly breaking it down to its essence and then I will be ready to share my process of creation. I can reveal though that it will be brimming with watercolours and will be ecologically/conservation-based as these are where my two main passions lie.

When will it be available? Some things are just worth waiting for. To me, the joy is in the creation so writing and illustrating a book is not something I want to rush. I love to include my followers in the process of creation, so if you want to jump on board as I create the next book, follow me on Facebook, or bookmark my website. These will be the two places where I share my next journey of creation with you all.

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