This story of a tree that attracts butterflies annually and the family who struggles to survive without cutting that tree down was nice and inspiring, though it kind of leaves you hanging at the end when you wonder if the girl's plan to sell food and capitalize on the visiting tourists worked. I liked the book all the same. ( )

Outside her home in Michoacán, Mexico, eight-year-old Isabel's greatest treasure, the Oyamel Tree. Every autumn, a miracle happens because Isabel's tree is the wintering place for thousands of monarch butterflies that migrate from the north. When they fly down to roost, they transform Isabel's tree into La casa de las mariposas-The House of Butterflies. But this is a wonder endanger of disappearing forever. Isabel's family is poor, and it has been a cruel, dry year for her Papa's only crops of corn and beans. Soon, chopping down the tree to sell its wood may be the family's only hope for survival. Isabel wonders what could happen to the butterflies as a result of cutting down their home tree.

Isabel is very happy living with her family in a little town in Mexico. She has a special tree outside her window that becomes laden with Monarch butterflies every autumn. Unfortunately, her family may have to cut down the tree and sell the wood to pay for food. Will Isabel be able to save her beloved butterfly tree? This delightful book about agency in a small girl has Spanish phrases and their translations sprinkled liberally throughout. The illustrations appear to be oils on canvas. They are beautiful. ( )

Isabel is an eight year old girl who has her very own oyamel tree outside her window. This tree is special becasue every autumn, thousands of beautiful butterflies return from the North to inhabit the tree. However, one year a drought occurs that puts the family in a dangerous situation. Isabel and her family can no longer sell their crops and become desperate for money so that they can survive. Her father considers cutting down the oyamel tree to sell the wood and support his family, but Isabel cannot let this happen. She comes up with the idea to sell butterfly tortillas to tourists with the help of her mother. Isabel's heart flutters with excitement as she anticipates beginning this new adventure.

Isabel's family struggles to make enough money to support themselves. The harvest in Mexico was not good this year and so Papa may have to cut down Isabel's favorite tree, "the house of butterflies" tree, to sell the wood and make some money. Can Isabel find a way to save the tree and the butterflies' home?