Description "Did you know a bear and a butterfly once had a quarrel?" A dreamlike picture book that unfolds on a moonlit night, newly reimagined from a six-line poem by the legendary children's author Margaret Wise Brown. A Short Poem by the Legendary Children's Author Margaret Wise Brown: "The Bear and the Butterfly" Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952) rewrote the history of American children's literature in the 1930s and 40s. She wrote with the eyes and heart of a child, telling not the stories adults wanted to share, but the stories children truly wanted to hear. In her short life, Brown left behind hundreds of stories and picture books. She was always writing, and she especially loved playing with rhyme. In this six-line poem, "The Bear and the Butterfly," the words "fight" and "night," "paws" and "jaw" rhyme beautifully in the original English — though this charm couldn't be fully carried over in translation! Brown also adored animals. (She believed illustrators should draw the way children see the world, and once even gifted an illustrator two puppies as models. The story goes that when the illustrator woke up the next morning, the puppies had licked all the paint off the artwork!) Fittingly, "The Bear and the Butterfly" features — of course — a bear and a butterfly. Curious what happens between them? Completed through collaboration between the Netherlands and Korea, Marije Tolman's picture book "The Bear and the Butterfly" brings this short six-line poem to life: one day, a bear and a butterfly quarrel all day long, until at last the bear throws up its paws in surrender. It's delightfully funny to imagine a bear quarreling with a butterfly no bigger than a fingernail — and even funnier to picture the mighty bear collapsing, utterly defeated by such a tiny creature. How did renowned Dutch illustrator Marije Tolman turn this brief poem into a full picture book? While staying true to the poem's short, playful rhythm and story, she added delightful details — like a honey-loving bee and a honey sandwich sparking the quarrel — along with her signature vivid, radiant colors (especially stunning in the sunset-lit sea) and a joyous swirl of countless butterflies, creating an entirely new and wondrous work of art. Raised by a father who was a printmaker and sculptor, Marije Tolman created each scene using monoprint techniques layered with brushwork, along with gouache, watercolor, acrylic, pencil, and crayon — a rich mix of materials and methods to bring her characters to life. The idea began with a Korean publisher, the artwork was created in a Dutch studio, and then the bear and the butterflies flew across the sea to Korea to meet their readers. Just like magic! Never quarrel with a butterfly on a moonlit night! The bear thinks, "What's one butterfly's sandwich, what's a few butterflies..." but before long, countless butterflies gather together and lightly lift the bear right off the ground. Bewildered, the bear finds itself soaring through the sky. Just like magic! "The process of illustrating this book was truly joyful. My original plan was to draw just one bear and one butterfly. But at some point, my studio became filled with butterflies, and they became an important symbol of this book. Butterflies can represent love, understanding, friendship, and a strong, brave heart." What is a butterfly, really? It may seem like nothing at all — fragile and powerless on its own — yet together, butterflies can overcome even a bear. Love, understanding, friendship, courage, or perhaps things like sunsets and rainbows: sometimes they seem to hold little power, but in truth, they fill our hearts with strength and make our lives shine brighter. Just like magic!