The Butterfly Club by Jacqueline Wilson is a nice children’s book about school life, making friends, bullying, illness and learning from experience.
The main focus of the story is on Tina, who is a small delicate triplet, with her sisters, Phil and Maddie, being very protective of her because Tina has a heart condition. All the three have very different personalities, but very strong bonding.
When their new school year begins, the teacher feels Tina would do better without her sisters so she makes Tina sit with other kids.
Tina would have done well without her siblings but with the class bully Selma sitting next to her, Tina has a tough time. Eventually she learns to fend for herself.
Filled with everyday school and home happenings that kids will easily identify with when reading, the story realistically paints school children behaving both nicely, by doing the right thing, and being mean, like Selma flashing Tina’s doll down the toilet.
As they get together to set up the Butterfly Club, their friendship grows and we realise that Selma behaves so rudely because she has a troubled family life and is unhappy. Tina discovers her new passion for butterflies and we too get to know a lot of information about butterflies. This is what I liked about the book — it not only carries subtle life lessons that kids need to know about building relationships and growing, but also has a lot of information about butterflies that I didn’t know. In fact, I feel confident enough to start a butterfly club of my own!
However, I was disappointed that the story about Selma’s home life wasn’t developed and her problems remained.
There are also lots of illustrations that add to the overall appeal. The book is for kids nine years and over.
Published in Dawn, Young World September 23rd, 2017
