“This adaptation by Kendi is poetic, vigilant, and gives the original words stature by amplifying the high notes for very young children. Caregivers will delight in the cadence, and babies in the colors that Yangni splashes across every page in a piece of folklore that threads readers from a genesis of sorts to an urban landscape full of flutter-byes. . .This will dance off the shelves.”

“Yangni’s vibrant mixed-media illustrations span a range of settings—rural and urban, historical and current—accompanied by brilliantly colored butterflies throughout. . .Kendi. . .preserves Hurston’s use of Black English, and his closing note provides rich historical context about both Ebonics and the importance of Hurston’s work as a folklorist.”

“Following Magnolia Flower (2022), Kendi retells another work by Hurston, this time a tale of how butterflies were created, from her folktale anthology Mules and Men.

Rendered in acrylic paint, pencil, pastel, and Adobe Photoshop, the artwork creates an eye-catching collage of images in every spread. Just as folktales are greatly exaggerated, so are Yangni’s brightly colored butterflies and flowers that flow throughout, similar to the tale’s narration. Kendi expertly distills this word-of-mouth tale for young readers with direct quotes from Hurston’s book and uses the African American vernacular, as Hurston did.

An old tale is given fresh new life.”