The butterfly and the ladybug live next door to each other. They are best friends, and they have a party to reach. Somewhere along the way, the friends get lost. Then they spot balloons.
The Ladybug and the Butterfly, by Laine & Daddy, follows the friends as they find their way. A log blocks the path, the friends help each other across, and a friendly bee shows them where to go. The trip supplies something concrete to follow while reading together: where the friends are, what they see, and what they do next.
The book also has a beginning outside its story. Laine made the original on folded paper with marker drawings because she wanted to make a book like her daddy. Photographs of those handmade pages appear inside the finished book. A small story made at home became a book that another family can open, read, and color.
Read the trip through
Start by reading the story aloud. Let the pictures have a place in the reading. Pause when a child wants to look longer at the friends, the balloons, or the party, and continue when the child is ready.
The journey gives you ordinary details to talk about. Where are the balloons? What is across the path? Who helps the friends find the party? Use a question when someone wants to talk, and follow an observation when someone points to a picture instead.
You can also simply turn the pages together. The story has a destination, and reaching the party is part of the pleasure of following the friends.
After the reading, leave the book open at a scene someone wants to see again. A favorite picture can become the starting place for coloring.
Choose a sheet
The free printable sheets offer the balloons scene and the party scene. Both can be downloaded directly:
Show the choices before printing. Someone who enjoyed following the balloons might choose that picture. Someone who wants to spend more time at the destination might choose the party.
You can use the free sheets during a visit, at the kitchen table, or whenever someone asks to color the friends again. Save the download so you can print another copy when you need one.
Print the chosen sheet and put crayons beside it. Keep the story nearby if the child wants to compare the picture with the book. The printed illustration supplies a scene, and the child chooses the colors.
A butterfly can keep the colors from the story or acquire entirely different ones. A balloon can be colored first because it caught someone's attention. Follow the child's interest in the picture rather than turning the sheet into a sequence of instructions.
Return to a moment
Coloring offers another occasion to look at something that happened in the story. If the conversation returns to getting lost, open the relevant story page. If someone remembers the log, find the friends helping each other across it.
Keep the connection specific. You might say, “They helped each other over the log,” and see what the child notices. Another day, the same reader may care most about the bee or the balloons.
The handmade original offers a different detail to explore. Look together at Laine's pages and the folded-paper beginning. A child who wants to make a story can start with paper and markers too. Ask which character the child wants to draw, then let that drawing lead to another page.
For today, choose the balloons sheet or the party sheet, print it, and put the crayons where you will read together.
Related book
The Ladybug and the Butterfly, by Laine & Daddy, is available in paperback. The edition page also links to the free coloring sheets and the online coloring activity.