the word choice in the poem is not lost on me). For Flutterby, it’s the reminder “that you’re a Flutterby too!” because Flutterby learns, over the course of the story, that she is unique and should just be herself (no, the irony of the moral vs. Instead, Cosgrove usually wove them into simple poems at the end that acted as reminders for what had happened in the preceding pages. These morals are rarely specifically spelled out.

More importantly, each story has a moral. The Serendipity Book series, including Flutterby, are primarily about real animals, but many of them are about other, more magical creatures. My mother taught kindergarten, so she had access to a great many affordable children’s books. I honestly don’t know how old I was when Serendipity Books first entered my world. But Flutterby is only one such story in the long line of Serendipity Books, a series that began in 1974 when Stephen Cosgrove wanted something beautiful and affordable to read to his 3-year-old daughter. I turn to it whenever a child comes to visit, because the message is simple, but powerful, and accompanied by colorful illustrations. Flutterby is such a delightful story that you can’t help but be charmed by the miniature Pegasus that desperately wants to figure out who she is. It is so worn that I have no idea what color it started out, the pages are torn and marked with scribbles, and the title page is adorned with what must be one of my earliest signatures (and also the name of my best friend in kindergarten). This is a bit of an odd review, but as I was looking through my bookshelves I happened upon one of the most precious books in my collection, Flutterby, written by Stephen Cosgrove and illustrated by Robin James.

Stephen cosgrove serendipity book set