Gibilaro wanted to be thorough about adding the Bay Ridge flavor to the story.
“I think there’s a culture here that doesn’t exist in a lot of places, which is that sense of the neighborhood and really helping each other and celebrating each other,” she said. “You can show up at a block party or a festival and everyone is essentially strangers but by the end of that hour or two, you might leave having a new friend or making a new connection.”
Since the book’s release, Gibilaro has had book signings and events at stores such as The BookMark Shoppe, and she received positive feedback from both children and adults.
“People have told me they really love it,” she said. “They’re seeing elements that they don’t usually see illustrated in children’s books like the Verrazzano Bridge, which is iconic and amazing but it’s not necessarily on the cover or showcased in a lot of children’s books. People in the area have just loved the specific things that resonate with them on the cover.”
The author hopes children learn two life lessons after they read the story.
“It teaches children about their environment,” she explained. “If they live in Brooklyn, it teaches them about their city, and it’s geared toward ages three to eight so they can certainly be educated about it. My knowledge as a child was fairly limited with the festivals going on within a 10-block radius. I was not aware that the Mid-Autumn Festival was taking place in Sunset Park, so my children are aware of that. It’s good to inform kids who don’t live in Brooklyn just how rich in culture this place is.”
Children enjoy Gibilaro’s book event at the BookMark Shoppe and The Ridge Kids in Bay Ridge. Photo: Connie Gibilaro
The other lesson is the importance of friendship.
“One of the main gripes of the main character of the butterfly, whose name is Delilah, is that she’s never met another butterfly, so she’s really motivated to fly off the wall. She’s in search of another butterfly friend,” said Gibilaro. “Throughout the whole book, she’s disappointed because she can’t find that butterfly friend, and then toward the end of the book, she realizes she’s been putting this butterfly friend on a pedestal when she’s had two true friends by her side all along.”
She also complimented the book’s illustrator, Haley Moss.
“She is so talented, and she brought Brooklyn to life,” she said. “It took us well over a year. It took a long time, but it was worth it.”