About the Authors All 4 of us are IB students, from The British School in the Netherlands, who have collaborated together in order to make this book for our Community, Action, and Service (CAS) project. This book weaves together engaging storytelling and vibrant illustrations to captivate our young readers while embodying the principles of the CAS project.
And Illustrators Emphasizing diversity and global perspectives, the narrative aligns with the IB programme's commitment to community engagement and service. Through this collaboration we aim to inspire young minds to appreciate differences, fostering empathy and contributing to a more inclusive world.
Marty was a peculiar butterfly. In fact, he was not one at all. Although he had wings on the side of his body and antennae, he was different from the others. His wings were not as long, and they weren’t as colourful as the wings Marty saw the other butterflies had. Often, he would look at his reflection in the lake and wonder why he looked different.
“My wings have no orange, pink or blue” he would repeat to himself. “They have no pink, green or yellow spots either.” As he would look at his reflection, the only colour he could see was brown.
A dark shade of brown. While brown could be someone’s favourite colour, Marty disliked it. Out of all the shades his eyes allowed him to see, he hated this one the most.
Every day he thought about what it would be like to have colourful wings. He imagined himself spreading his much longer wings and seeing more than just one boring colour. He imagined seeing beautiful patterns of all the colours of the rainbow. Unfortunately, it was only a dream. One that could never come true. Marty believed his wings meant he would never fit in with all the butterflies.
Marty enjoyed flying with his butterfly friends, but he could never travel as fast as they did. He was always tired in the mornings when they left to go on adventures. He was also tired on the way and even when they came back home.
The only times he felt energetic was in the evenings, when everyone was meant to rest. Despite him closing his eyes, he never wanted to sleep at night. When he stayed awake, he had a lot of time to think about what he could do to be more like the other butterflies.
His butterfly friends never made fun of his wings or the fact that he yawned a lot, however, Marty hoped that if he were more like the others, he would be happier. He thought this would mean he would spend less time thinking about how he could change, and more time being joyful with his friends.
One day, Marty found himself dozing off on a leaf, his wings drooping. As usual, he was tired as he spent the night wondering about how he could be different. When he woke up, he found that the butterflies were gone. Marty overslept! It was already evening and the butterflies had left a long time ago.
He called out to them, but no one answered. Marty felt a lump in his throat as he realized he was all alone. He didn’t wake up in the morning as he was supposed to. It slowly became clear to him that he would never be like the butterflies. Marty would never have the energy or the pretty and long wings he dreamed of. He would always be different.
Suddenly, he heard some distant noises. It sounded like a party! Curious, he flew towards the direction of the sound and saw something he never expected. Marty saw that a party was happening in a nearby garden. As he got closer, he saw that the garden was full of beautiful, colourful flowers. He saw many different insects flying around, not only butterflies. There were bees, ladybugs, dragonflies and many more! There were even some spiders weaving their webs in the corners.
Marty curiously flew towards the party. All the others welcomed him kindly. “Hello there, little one! Welcome to our party!” said one friendly bee. Marty thanked the bee for the invitation and started to explore.
As he wandered around, he noticed that the garden was not just a party, but also a home for all the insects. All of them had an important role to play, working together to keep the garden beautiful and healthy.
Marty saw a group of insects who looked just like him. They had the same brown and short wings as Marty. He flew up to them and asked, “Who are you?”. They seemed confused by the question. They all replied “We are moths. Just like you.”
"Moths?" repeated Marty. He had never heard of them before. He had always thought he was a butterfly. Yet there was a whole group of insects just like him, who said they were moths. All the differences between him and his friends made sense now. His short and brown wings were not a mistake. Marty was not a weird butterfly. He was a moth!
Marty felt much better and freer now. For the first time, he realized that he didn’t have to be like the other butterflies to belong. There were many insects that were special in their own way.
As the night went on, Marty chatted with his new moth and ladybug friends, tasted delicious honey with the bees, and chatted with spiders in their webs.
From that day on Marty visited the garden regularly. He still flew around with his butterfly mates, but he also spent time with his new friends.
He learnt a lot about the different roles that various insects play around the world. Bees were responsible for pollinating the flowers and ladybugs helped keep the garden free from pests. The spiders spun their webs, and the dragonflies were great at catching small intruders in mid-air. Slowly Marty began to learn to accept himself. He started to understand that he was a part of a larger community, which was special to him.
One day, a big storm hit the garden. The winds were so strong that it knocked down many of the flowers and even some trees. Marty and his new friends were devasted. They had never seen the garden in such a horrible state before.
The bees panicked that they would not be able to pollinate the flowers anymore
and the ladybugs were concerned that the pests would start to takeover.
Marty knew he had to do something to help. He flew around the garden, trying to find a way to fix the damage. As he flew, he noticed that some of the flowers were still intact, but they were scattered all over the place.
Marty came up with an idea.
He flew back to his butterfly friends, called over his new moth friends and asked them for help. Together, the butterflies, moths and Marty worked hard to collect all the flowers and put them back in their places.
It was difficult work, but they were determined to help their insect friends. They worked throughout the day until the flowers were back in place and the garden was once again beautiful.
The bees, ladybugs, spiders and dragonflies were all amazed with what the butterflies, moths and Marty had managed to achieve. They were grateful for their help and realized that it didn’t matter if they were butterflies or moths or any other insects. They were all important and they all had something to contribute.
From then on Marty learned to love himself. He spent a lot of time with all his friends, always ready to help when they needed it. He was admired by all the insects for his kind heart.
Sometimes Marty looks at his reflection in the lake. He is no longer disgusted by the colour brown. He loves how warm it looks in the sun.
Instead of thinking how he does not fit in, he has wonderful dreams, where he is proud and happy.