First grade for Francisco beings with an overwhelming cascade of sounds--voices speaking in a language he doesn't understand. The child of migrant farm laborers, Francisco speaks only Spanish but at his school only English is allowed. The strain of trying to pay attention gives him headaches, and sometimes he escapes the chaos by focusing on the caterpillar kept in a jar near his desk and then imagining himself flying away to visit his father at work in the fields. He wonders how long it will take the cocoon that is now in the jar to open and for a butterfly to emerge. Francisco Jiménez's eloquent short story relates how a young boy's academic and social emergence at school is hindered by the denial of his native language, and how some barriers to communication and friendship are also overcome. The story is based on events in the author's own life and was told in a slightly different version in his outstanding novel for young readers, The Circuit (University of New Mexico, 1997). Here, it is presented as a fully illustrated picture book with strong-lined, full-color, glowing artwork by Simón Silva. (Ages 8-11)

In his first year of school, Francisco understands little of what his teacher says. But he is drawn to the silent, slow-moving caterpillar in the jar next to his desk. He knows caterpillars turn into butterflies, but just how do they do it? To find out, he studies the words in a butterfly book so many times that he can close his eyes and see the black letters, but he still can't understand their meaning. Illustrated with paintings as deep and rich as the wings of a butterfly, this honest, unsentimental account of a schoolchild's struggle to learn language reveals that our imaginations powerfully sustain us. La Mariposa makes a subtle plea for tolerance in our homes, in our communities, and in our schools.