MOTH IN A FANCY CARDIGAN

A moth and a butterfly struggle with outsides that don’t match their insides.

Gary, a gray moth, is unhappy with his somber exterior (especially his gray cardigan), which leaves him virtually invisible and envious of the brightly colored butterflies. When Florence, a butterfly, ditches her colorful cardigan outside the school, he grabs it. At home that night he tries it on and feels like himself in it. Meanwhile, reserved, awkward Florence, who feels uncomfortable trying to live up to her serene mother’s example, comes across Gary’s cardigan and finds it a perfect fit. But losing her cardigan causes Florence trouble—its pocket contained a gift for her beloved grandmother, who accepts her for the black-and-white-and-gray–loving butterfly she is. (When Gary eventually finds the drawing, he thinks it incomplete and colors it to “finish” it, ruining what Florence loved most about it.) When Florence confesses to Grandma that she lost her cardigan, her grandmother reveals a family secret. Before the protagonists can reconcile their inner-to-outer selves, they must navigate their interpersonal conflict (over picture and cardigan) and preconceptions. Gary and Florence’s solution will be obvious to readers based on how happy these brief tastes of change make them. Still, the message of self-acceptance rings through. Short chapters that switch between Gary’s and Florence’s perspectives showcase frequent illustrations, grayscale with yellow pops. Heavily anthropomorphized characters look like gray-skinned humans with wings and antennae.

Message-heavy but ultimately affirming and empathy-promoting.