Isabel’s House of Butterflies by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Susan Guevara, 2003.

The story begins by explaining that the forests of Michoacan, Mexico are a sanctuary for monarch butterflies, but that sanctuary is in danger because of logging activities. The large-scale industry is a major threat, but sometimes poor people living in the area also chop down trees because they need to sell the wood. The author notes that there have been efforts to preserve these trees, but it’s difficult to enforce laws protecting them, and no one is sure what will happen to the monarch butterflies if the trees disappear.

Isabel is an eight-year-old girl living with her family on a small farm, and the tree outside their house attracts butterflies on their migration route. She calls it, “La casa de las mariposas,” which means “The House of Butterflies.” Her family is poor, but they can’t bring themselves to chop down their special butterfly tree, like other families in the area have done. They love it that the butterflies appear there every autumn, and they think it’s a beautiful miracle to see them return every year. Sometimes, tourists come to the area to see the butterflies, and that brings the family a little extra money.

However, one year, there is very little rain, and they have a very bad harvest. The family sells their pigs and continues on as best they can, but their money is running low. They don’t have many resources left for money, and Isabel’s father is reluctantly considering cutting down their butterfly tree. He doesn’t want to do it, but he doesn’t know what else to do.

Isabel is distressed at the loss of the tree and the butterflies, so she suggests another plan to her parents. She often helps her mother to make tortillas, so she tells her mother that maybe they can set up a stand selling tortillas to the tourists who come to see the butterflies. The family decides to give Isabel’s plan a try.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

The story ends on a somewhat hopeful note, but it bothered me a little because it’s not definite that Isabel’s plan is going to work. Isabel is hoping that they’ll be able to make enough money that they won’t need to cut down the tree, but we only see them getting set up, so we don’t know if they’re successful or not. I would have preferred to see them succeeding so we would know that things are going to get better, but the story just ends at that point, and it’s left up to the minds of the readers whether they were successful or not.

I think that hopeful but slightly worrying note at the end of the story is meant to reflect how people trying to preserve natural resources often feel – they have ideas and plans to help preserve natural areas and resources, but nobody knows for sure what will work or how well their plans will work. It’s realistic, if a little bit of a let-down. However, while nothing is guaranteed to be successful and life has its uncertainties, there is hope in the people who are willing to try different approaches to problems rather than simply giving up. The book does speak to the concerns that modern people, even children, have about the environment and the search for systems that work better than the ones that we already have.

The pictures in this book are soft, colorful, and lovely. Although the family is poor, they appreciate the small pleasures in their lives, like making the tortillas and the yearly appearance of the beautiful butterflies. I did also feel a little sorry for the butterflies the pigs ate, but the story doesn’t dwell on that part too much.

This book was published by Sierra Club Books for Children, and there is a small note with the publishing information about the origins of the Sierra Club, which is dedicated to protecting scenic and ecological resources.