Marigold's Wings

Reviewed: April 4, 2003
By: Vlasta Van Kampan
Publisher: Key Porter Books
23 Pages, $21.95

Marigold is a little caterpillar with a dream. Even when we first meet her she is aching to have wings - fastens leaves to her back in imitation while she talks to a grown Monarch about how wonderful it is to fly and what a long trip it will be when she goes to Mexico some day.

But Marigold is sometimes too much of a dreamer, and so it is that one day she falls from a leaf to the ground and falls unconscious, waking to find herself in the opening stages of her great transformation.

Even as a butterfly she remains a dreamer, and it is only with the help of a great many friends that she survives the summer and begins her long trek to the trees of Mexico. It isn’t easy. Even flying can get hard after awhile and the elements eventually pick away at those once fresh golden orange wings.

But she makes it at last - or does she?

Vlasta Van Kampan has produced a book which is an interesting mixture of cartoon and detailed illustration. Her insects are both grotesque and cute at the same time, while her landscapes are a blend of the realistic and the stylized. The colours are gorgeous all through the story.

It’s a tale that should give parents the chance to talk about dreams and plans with their little ones, while also just being a good little story.

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