The Grass Is Always Greener on the Other Side: If Only by Mies Van Hout

THE CHILD THOUGHT,

IF ONLY I WERE A BUTTERFLY,

THEN I COULD FLY EVERYWHERE,

Sometimes it seems that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. A little girl watches the butterflies fluttering around overhead and admires their freedom to fly freely. Little does she guess that the butterfly has other wishes. In her case, the butterfly wishes to be a stick insect, almost impossible to see on his tree, inconspicuous instead of flashy! But the slow-moving stick insect longs to zip and zag and whirl across the surface of the pond like the whirligig beetle. But the swift and shifty beetle wishes he could be a firefly with his own spotlight in the night!

THE FIREFLY THOUGHT,

IF ONLY I WERE A BEE,

THEN I'D ALWAYS HAVE FRIENDS TO HELP ME.

But the busy bee secretly longs to be alone sometimes, doing things all by herself, like the spider.

The spider, however, knows that she's a bit off-putting, with her eight long creepy legs and scary fangs!

IF ONLY I WERE A LADYBUG,

THEN EVERYONE WOULD THINK I WAS ADORABLE!

But there's a downside to being cute, as the ladybug longs to be as purposeful and strong as an ant! And while the slow-moving snail envies the ground-covering leaps of the grasshopper, he wishes he had the helicopter-like mobility of the dragonfly, who can even fly backwards!

And whom does the dragonfly envy?...

...Someone who can giggle and sing, play hide-and-seek and count and hop, and think up how to make all kinds of things out of all kinds of things--a kid-- in Mies Van Hout's jolly new picture book, If Only... (Pajama Press, 2021).

The old proverb that says "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride," warns against jealousy of what others are and can do, but for a human child, it's sometimes a good thing to imagine how to turn those wishes into new ways and skills in how to do things. In author-illustrator Van Hout's bouyant and imaginative collaged illustrations, youngsters can learn about backyard creatures, learn to appreciate the abilities of each, and be inspired with the possibilities that being a human child also offers

In its starred review, School Library Journal says, "Spread after spread of exuberantly busy, beautiful life…. A visual delight, this picture book offers openings for conversation about wishes, predictions, and one's own enviable strengths."