Farfallina & Marcel

A caterpillar and a young goose become great friends, but as they grow up they undergo changes which separate them for awhile.

Once there was a caterpillar named Farfallina, whose best friend was a gosling named Marcel. They played together all the time. They liked the same games, and they liked each other.

But one day, everything changed.

Can best friends remain best friends no matter what happens? For Farfellina and marcel, who endure growing up and growing apart only to find that it brings them closer together, the happy answer is "yes."

Publishers Weekly

PW wrote in our Best Books citation, "In this charming tale, a caterpillar and a gosling meet in a rain shower one day and become best friends. Keller's warmhearted ending remains true to both nature and friendship that lasts through the seasons." Ages 4-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Holly Keller has written more than thirty books and illustrated as many written by other people. Among the most popular of her picture books are three books about Horace the leopard and several books about the feisty pig Geraldine. She says, "A new book can start either with a visual image or with a story line. It can also start with just a word, which is how Farfellina and Marcel began. "Farfellina" means "little butterfly" in Italian, and one evening a friend sang a song he had learned in Italy about a farfallina. For some reason the word caught my fancy."

Holly Keller is the mother of two grown children and lives with her pediatrician husband in Connecticut.