A Butterfly Bedtime Story: A Seat Beneath the Leaf

This original butterfly bedtime story is ready to read aloud. Bina waits out a shower with an unlikely neighbor and discovers that their shelter has an excellent view. Below the complete story, you will find a small way to adapt it together.

A Seat Beneath the Leaf

Bina the butterfly was halfway across the garden when the first raindrop landed on a cabbage leaf. It made a round, hollow sound. Then another drop struck beside it. Bina tucked herself beneath the leaf's wide edge.

A beetle was already there, sitting on a flat stone with a bag at his feet. He moved the bag closer. "There is room."

Bina settled beside him. Outside their green roof, the shower thickened. Water rolled down the leaf's ribs and dripped from its pointed end. The path she had meant to cross became a line of small shining puddles.

"I was going to the roses," she said.

"I was going home," said the beetle.

They looked at the rain. Neither destination seemed to be getting closer. Bina shifted once, then again. The beetle opened his bag, checked something inside and closed it carefully.

"What have you got?" she asked.

"A picture of my brother. He stood very still while I drew him, except for his left foot."

He showed her the folded paper. The brother had an excellent round body and one foot drawn in two places. Bina liked that part best. It made him look as if he might walk off the page.

A large drop gathered at the leaf tip. Through it, the garden appeared upside down. Bina leaned closer without leaving the shelter. The watering can looked tiny. The rose bush stood on its head.

"Look," she whispered.

The beetle looked. For a moment they watched a whole upside-down garden held in one drop. Then it fell, and another began forming in exactly the same place.

The beetle took out his pencil. On the back of his brother's picture he drew the leaf roof and the round drop. Bina described the tiny watering can while he worked. He drew it upside down, with its spout pointing the wrong way, and they decided that was close enough.

Soon the rain thinned to occasional taps. Light returned to the path. Bina waited a little longer beneath the leaf before setting off toward the roses.

The beetle folded his drawing and put it back in the bag. "I have two pictures to take home now," he said.

Bina watched him follow the dry edge of the path. At the leaf tip, one last drop held the garden briefly, then let it go.

One optional idea for reading together

Let your child choose the leaf's shape and the color of the beetle's bag. The storm remains a brief shower without thunder or danger. You can tell a listener who dislikes uncertainty that both visitors leave comfortably at the end. For an optional rereading game, notice the ordinary garden objects that look different through the falling water.

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