Butterfly Wings: A Hopeful Story About Climate Anxiety

Eve Patenaude (Illustrator) and Arielle Aaronson (Translator)

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Book cover for Butterfly Wings

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An honest exploration of climate anxiety, for kids 8+ and the adults who love them.

When ten-year-old Florent overhears his mothers discussing the possibility of having another baby—and expressing their reluctance due to fears about the planet—his mind races off into a spiral of fear and guilt. Is the planet suffering because there are too many children—children like him? Do his parents think they made a mistake by bringing him into the world?

One night, Florent dreams that the forests have all burned to the ground and that his parents are flying away on a spaceship, abandoning him on a ruined planet. When he wakes up, he decides to stop talking… until a discussion with his mothers changes everything.

At a time when climate change is negatively impacting kids' mental health, Butterfly Wings provides:

  • Anxiety relief: provides a safe space for kids to process their anxiety, fear, and other emotions about the climate
  • A social-emotional learning tool for parents and teachers to talk about climate change with kids through a gentle and hopeful lens

Through thoughtful words and gorgeous illustrations, this compassionate story confronts the very real challenge of climate anxiety in a way that is accessible to young readers. Butterfly Wings provides children with a way to understand their feelings, while also offering hope for a different future.


  • ISBN10 1778400825
  • ISBN13 9781778400827
  • Publish Date 28 September 2023 (first published 26 September 2023)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country CA
  • Imprint Greystone Books,Canada
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 104
  • Language English