Blue Sky, Butterfly

Reach for this book when your child feels like their world has become quiet and lonely following a family separation. It addresses the specific emotional isolation a child feels when every member of the family is grieving a divorce in their own way. Twig, the protagonist, watches as her mother retreats into a fog of sadness and her brother shuts down with anger, leaving her feeling invisible. Jean Van Leeuwen captures the delicate process of finding one's footing again. While the story centers on Twig's loneliness, it is ultimately a book about the small, hopeful steps toward a new normal. Ideal for children ages 8 to 12, it provides a gentle mirror for their own confusion and a map for how a family begins to talk to one another again after a major upheaval.