Mari is a busy butterfly flitting from flower to flower collecting pollen without bothering to notice what types of flowers are around her and far too busy thinking about her to-do list to sit and rest. But every once in a while she reflects back on when she was in her chrysalis and how quiet and still she was. Then one day a young bud encourages her to stop, take deep breaths, and remember that she's already a beautiful butterfly.

This was a very nice introduction into the concept of mindfulness with the story providing its own short guided meditation within the context of the plot. The author's note at the end describing how she came to write this story is insightful and gives it even more powerful meaning. The illustrations work well with the story and the anthropomorphized butterfly being a child of a color is a nice touch (especially given that her full name is Mari Posa, which put together creates the Spanish word for butterfly).

The one thing I found a little odd was actually the small bit that makes it into the title: "already a butterfly." The bud encourages Mari that she's already a butterfly as she sometimes worries she isn't. I guess it wasn't clear to me earlier that was her concern; it seemed just that she was too busy to pay attention to anything else. I guess the implication is that her over-busyness came from a place of concern about not being good enough ... ? I think that could have been fleshed out a tiny bit more and still be appropriate for the young audience.

All in all though, this was a good read for talking to children about slowing down, appreciating the little things, and observing nature. The information included is actually pretty accurate scientifically speaking despite the butterfly being part human (looking more like a fairy than a butterfly). ( )