I have the most wonderful Canadian picture book to share with you today: Butterfly Sea.
Title: Butterfly Sea
Author name: Cynthia Mackey
Illustrator name: Marie Laure Couet
Publisher/Imprint: Tielmour Press
Publication date: January 30th, 2026
Publisher’s Book Description: Butterfly Sea captures the gentle push-and-pull between sibling playfulness and quiet reflection. As an older sister tries to photograph butterflies, her imaginative younger sibling trails behind, full of curiosity, laughter, and play.
Through a gentle blend of belonging, joy, and connection, this beautifully illustrated story explores how intergenerational bonds can endure through moments shared in nature.
MY THOUGHTS:
Butterfly Sea is such a magical, quiet and satisfying read. It’s the perfect blend of whimsy and contemplation, with a very meditative feel.
I LOVED it!
It reminds me a little bit of the Stella series by Canadian author Marie Louise Gay. Stella is also a child who bounces through her day with her younger sibling in tow. While the Stella books are high energy, this one is much more low key, but in a very good way.
In Butterfly Sea the older sister is longing to take some butterfly photos. Her baby sister tags along, first pretending to be a mermaid and then a pirate. While another sibling might find this annoying, it’s certainly not the case here.
The older child clearly loves her little sister and welcomes her as part of the adventure.
The artwork is gorgeous (I think it’s watercolour) and adds to the dream-like quality of the book.
Butterfly Sea is perfect for exploring sibling bonds, learning more about butterflies, and practising mindful observations.
I highly recommend this beautiful book both for the classroom and at-home reading!
BUTTERFLY SEA CLASSROOM CONNECTIONS:
FAMILY BONDS
To explore the love between the siblings you could create a “How Do the Sisters Feel?” chart.
After reading the book create a class anchor chart with three columns: Happy, Upset, Loving. Then name a moment from the book and ask the students to point to or place a sticky note in the matching column, while verbally justifying their choice.
This activity is a great way to help build emotional vocabulary without needing writing skills.
BUTTERFLIES
There are so many wonderful follow-up activities you could do related to butterflies.
Your students could make a butterfly life cycle wheel and create symmetrical butterfly art.
It would also be fun to design a butterfly garden. Kids Gardening has lots of helpful information for doing that.
When I was teaching we often raised butterflies. Check out the link for some more ideas.
MINDFUL OBSERVATIONS
One of the things I really like about this book is its mindful quality. In our fast-paced world it’s rare for some of us to slow down and really observe what’s around us. Here are some ideas to promote mindful observation in the classroom:
“I Notice…” sentence frame. Go through the book again but this time project it on a large screen and encourage your students to look very closely. Then have them complete the “I notice…” sentence frame. K’s could do this with a picture and verbally, while Grades 1 and 2 could print a couple of sentences.
Nature Observation Walk. Your students could carry paper binoculars and look for something small, something colourful, something moving, etc. Afterwards, be sure to share your observations.
Butterfly Breathing. Teach a calm breathing routine:
- Hands together like wings
- Open wings as you breathe in
- Close wings as you breathe out
Do 3–5 slow breaths, then ask:
- “How does your body feel now?”
This is perfect to do before transitions.
I hope you enjoy this gorgeous book as much as I do.
Places to Purchase (not affiliate links)
University of Toronto Press
Indigo
Author Bio: Cynthia Mackey is a recognized author of poetry and children’s books. She presents workshops for colleagues and mentors new educators in the Early Years field. She views children as capable beings and strives to incorporate elements of joy, playfulness, and social-emotional learning into her writing. Cynthia lives with her husband in Victoria, British Columbia.