Hope for the Flowers

Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus, is an allegory of pictures and words. You might find a lot of books telling an allegorical tale on the bookshelves, but none I’ve found yet that were so simple as Hope for the Flowers. I would recommend this as a family read, especially for those with young children.

This short book tells the story of Stripe, a caterpillar who is in search of something more. He thinks he has found it when he comes upon a column of climbing caterpillars reaching way into the clouds. Certainly they must have a reason for climbing way up into the sky. So, he begins his climb.

He meets a friend along the way, Yellow, who after a while takes a different path from the column climbing caterpillars and finds out that caterpillars become butterflies for the sole purpose of making a world full of flowers.

Although a book with much predictability…we all know that Stripe will become a butterfly, a few of the well thought out pictures are moving. Pictures in darkness and light translating the changes in our lives, the ups and downs we encounter. I can’t help relating Stripe’s climb to my daily drive to work. How many people do I step on to get where I’m trying to go sometimes? To what avail? It was only my desire to end up at a particular location, not God’s.

The most moving picture for me is the one during Stripe’s descent after reaching the top and finding out he could become a butterfly and fly. He is elated and wants to share his message. Each caterpillar he looks at as he carefully travels back down the column is imprinted with a butterfly. My hope is that I could remember that picture in my mind everyday, that somehow we could be better people if we remember that we all have the same potential to grow in Christ.

This book is a wonderful short read. I read this book in a day, sharing the pictures with my eldest daughter and trying to convey the message of Stripe and Yellow to her. God has a divine plan for all of us. We are all here for a higher purpose, not by our own design.

If you are looking for a book to bring home for a nice Sunday read, or to get across to a young mind that Sunday school message that you hope your child may carry with them the rest of their life, then check this book out.

What message do we need to hear for us to recognize that there might be a butterfly in each of us?