Murcian English teacher Marien Pérez publishes story about possessive love, freedom and wildlife
Everyone has experienced love all their lives, be it through brotherhood, friendship, romance or family. The story of ‘The Butterfly That Wouldn’t Fly’ (BABIDI-BÚ, 2022) is built around this feeling, the first story published by Marien Pérez Aranda (Murcia, 1980), an English teacher at Juan de la Cierva secondary school in Totana, which has chosen the name Adnara Pez as a literary pseudonym.
‘The Butterfly That Wouldn’t Fly’ tells the story of Esteban, a boy who finds a pupa of this insect and decides to keep it and keep it in a glass jar to think about, care for and exhibit to his friends. This behavior displays the most possessive and selfish love that is still part of society and that the author finds in the classroom.
The book tries to teach other kinds of values that are different from the values the teacher sees in her adolescent students. “There is a lot of lack of security, a great need to want to impress others and also a false sense that love and friendship must possess when the opposite is the case. You must be free to love a friend and within the couple. She believes that if she were more educated in equality and “in which no one owns anyone”, there would not be as many victims of gender violence.
However, ‘The Butterfly That Wouldn’t Fly’ is a story that allows many readings and teaches other values as well. “There’s also learning from mistakes, respecting wildlife and not trying to tame animals that aren’t and for a long time and so on.”
Another fundamental aspect of the work is undoubtedly the image that contributes so much to the story of Esteban and the Butterfly. The illustrations are made by Annie Álvarez Sánchez ‘LADYMAMBÖ’, who is part of the BABIDI-BÚ catalogue. It was she who decided to humanize the butterfly by giving it the qualities of a woman to “give a plus to the story and give people more empathy”.
Although the work is primarily intended for children, it can be read by adolescents and adults. Thanks to this, Marien Pérez has been able to collect different opinions, all favorable, from students, parents and children, as well as from teachers and psychologists. Many have assured him that they are so moved that a tear has escaped; and it is also a book to have at home. Teachers, for their part, see many opportunities for didactic interpretation, especially in primary school, and others have already worked on it in schools in Murcia and Alhama. On the other hand, certain psychologists have told you that you express very important values in a very simple way.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
