Butterflies for Kiri

by Cathryn Falwell

Butterflies for Kiri by Cathryn Falwell is not really about origami, rather it uses origami as a pivotal element in the story.

The Story

This story is about a little girl named Kiri who receives an origami book as a gift. Along with it came a pack or colorful origami paper. Kiri tries to fold an origami butterfly, but the paper tore. This causes her to shy away from using the beautiful origami paper.

However, that doesn’t stop her from folding butterflies: she uses regular lined paper to practice folding more butterflies. They still ripped and tore, but with each try, her attempts found more and more success. In the end, Kiri uses her colorful origami paper to fold a butterfly, and she uses some of the origami paper to make flower cut-outs. The story cumulates into a composite artwork which includes many of Kiri’s talents.

This story is really about Kiri’s determination, perseverance, and her creativity which leads to success. Good lessons for everyone!

The Illustrations

Illustrations are very colorful and will surely grab your attention. Elements are painted in solid colors with little/no shading. As such images are somewhat flat as if they were a collage cut out of colorful paper.

Bonus Material

The back of the book includes instructions to make an origami butterfly in 15 steps. Definition of valley folds, mountain folds, and arrow designations are embedded into the story.

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