This month’s Creator Spotlight highlights Adam Pottle and Ziyue Chen, author and illustrator of Butterfly on the Wind, a magical picture book about a Deaf girl who creates a butterfly with Sign Language and sends it on a journey around the world.
Adam, what inspired you to write Butterfly on the Wind?
Adam: I didn’t have books like this when I was a kid. I never saw books about deaf kids, you know, behaving in exciting ways or having bombastic, exciting adventures. I grew up a fan of Calvin and Hobbes, and I never saw deaf kids behaving like that. I wanted to write a book for my younger self. And another thing that inspired me when writing this book is whenever I see deaf people in a group, and whenever they’re signing, I find that they generate their own wind. They generate their own wind that could feel gentle or it could move mountains, it could rearrange rivers, and I wanted to write a story that captured the power and the beauty of sign language, and that became Butterfly on the Wind.
Ziyue, can you tell us a little bit about how you felt when you saw the text? What inspired you to want it to sign on and illustrate it?
Ziyue: The first time that I read his story, I knew immediately that I wanted to illustrate this, because I felt the same exact way growing up. I never read any books that had any deaf characters or any sign language, or characters that felt like they resonated with me, and that I could join in on their story. So, I know that sign language is beautiful, and it can unite people, and that’s really nice for children to read that. When you interact with deaf people or the deaf community, you could understand that sign language does bring people together. I like how Adam uses the butterfly as a beautiful metaphor that really signifies that no one is alone in their struggles.
Adam, can you speak a little bit more about your choice to incorporate butterflies? How did the butterfly become the main focus of your story?
Adam: The majority of butterfly species are deaf and for that reason, butterflies are often considered a symbol of the power and the beauty of deaf culture, and I kind of wanted to take that idea and play with it and see if I could put it into an international story, so to speak. And it seemed to me that’s another thing that I didn’t see when I was a kid. If I ever happened to see a deaf person in a television show or in a movie, they were always isolated. I never saw deaf community. I never saw multiple deaf people on screen, and that was disconcerting to me. I wanted to use this symbol of the butterfly as the means of uniting and illustrating the deaf community.
Ziyue, this text gave you the opportunity to show various geographic settings. Can you tell us a little bit about your choices in illustrating the different scenes? Do you also have a favorite place or favorite, you know, scene from the book?
Ziyue: When I read the story, it showed all these different settings, and it was very straightforward. So, for example, there’s one line that said, “Abby sits with her grandmother in an old cabin in the mountains.” And so showing the cold mountains and the vivid language gave me the visuals for the landscape. And then also the ocean scene. The story shows, you know, a hint to the setting, so I knew what to draw based on that. And my favorite place, or my favorite scene from the book, was how people supported and encouraged one another through sign language, no matter where they were in the world. I found that to be really comforting—I really loved that.
Adam, can you share how it felt to connect with Ziyue and do you have any favorite spreads that she’s illustrated?
Adam: First of all with Ziyue, I feel like we’ve won the lottery because her work was absolutely perfect for the story. I quickly discovered that she has this whimsical radiance to her work. It just fit this story perfectly, and I can’t imagine any other artist illustrating the story. In terms of a favorite spread or a favorite image from the book, it’s probably the one when the butterflies are attempting to cross the ocean, and they’re having difficulty because they don’t have the momentum. Like, the wind at that point had run out, and they don’t have the strength to get over the ocean. But nearby, there are people on a boat who are celebrating, and they help the butterflies along. And I think, Ziyue kind of alluded to this a little bit earlier, this idea of community and spirt and helping each other along.
Ziyue, you did such a beautiful job, incorporating the sign language into the visuals and showing their power. Can you share a little bit about how you brought that aspect into the art? And if there were any surprises or challenges along the way?
Ziyue: Yeah, well, I would act out, actually, the signs and film myself and use the emotions. I could then see myself in videos and see, you know, sort of what was an accurate representation and what wasn’t. So, I had a perfect reference for when I was illustrating. I thought that was very important to show the emotions to the readers so that they would be able to feel it. That was very important for me and for my work to connect with the audience and for them to be able to really feel the story. And, you know, the challenging part for me was to make sure that the signing was clear and it was legible. It was important that the person reading it would be able to understand what the sign was, and see the emotions as well.
Adam, in your author’s note, you discuss how butterflies first became meaningful to you when you saw Mothra in a Godzilla movie, which is unexpected because butterflies are often associated with being delicate and fragile. Can you share a little bit about, why Mothra? And why did that character speak to you so much?
Adam: Well, that was part of the inspiration. Another part of the inspiration for the story, because, at the same time that I was thinking about, you know, the wind that deaf people generate with their sign language, I also started to think of what else generates wind. There are hurricanes and tornadoes. I grew up with the Godzilla movies, and I started to think about the wind that Mothra generated whenever she would fly over Tokyo, and it was sort of perfect that Mothra is a being of strength and a being of power. And the thing is, those things are not necessarily associated with deaf people, either. Deaf people are often seen as innocent, as naive, as fragile, as delicate. And it’s just not true. Deaf people are powerful, beautiful beings. That’s something that I hope comes through in the story.
Ziyue, do you have something similar, something that inspires you? For Adam, it’s butterflies. For you, what gives you joy? What reflects you?
Ziyue: I would say it would be a word, and that word would be resilience. And the reason why is because resilience is… how I live my life. It’s about a state of mind, and I think it is really important.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Born Deaf and raised in a hearing family, Adam Pottle spent much of his childhood searching for magical portals and pretending to be Godzilla. He is an award-winning Canadian writer, with books in multiple genres, including the acclaimed memoir Voice and the adult novel The Bus. His groundbreaking fantasy play The Black Drum was performed to rave reviews in Canada and France and is the world’s first all-Deaf musical. He has a PhD in English Literature and has taught English and Creative Writing for nearly twenty years. When not writing, he is usually found at the boxing gym, the library, or the park with his goldendoodle Valkyrie.
Born deaf and raised in sunny island, Singapore, Ziyue Chen (pronounced as Zzz yuair), lives with her husband and her two darling children. Her life goal has been to have an emotional connection with those who view her work. She loves visualizing stories through illustrations, working on mostly children’s books that resonate with her personal life experience.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Butterfly on the Wind
Ages 3-6
On Sale Now!
A magical picture book about a Deaf girl who creates a butterfly with Sign Language and sends it on a journey around the world.
On the day of the talent show, Aurora’s hands tremble. No matter how hard she tries to sign, her fingers stumble over one another and the words just won’t come. But as she’s about to give up, she spots a butterfly.
Using her hands to sign the ASL word for “butterfly,” Aurora sends a magical butterfly of her own into the world, inspiring Deaf people across the globe to add their own. The butterflies grow in numbers and strength as they circle back to Aurora, bolstering her with the love and support of her worldwide Deaf community.
Deaf picture book creators author Adam Pottle and artist Ziyue Chen combine powerful text and sweeping art into a moving story of resilience and self-belief.
