Come To Me, Nice Butterfly

"Come to Me, Nice Butterfly" () is the title of a 1945 children's book of verse and its first poem written by Israeli poet Fania Bergstein. The book was illustrated by . Described as a cornerstone of Israeli children's literature, it has been printed in over 40 editions ().

Contents

The book contains 8 untitled verses (quatrains) and 8 colorful illustrations. All eight poems are in the voice of a small child who observes the animals, plants, and things around him: a small flower with a butterfly, a hen with her chicks, a lamb, a newborn calf, a car, a tractor, a guard dog.Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer, ''Klassiker der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur: Ein internationales Lexikon'', Springer-Verlag, 2017
p. 95
/ref> In the last verse the child goes to bed.

Signature verse

The verse has been turned into a song by various composers and singers.

Our Car Is Big and Green

The song "" was written by Bergstein earlier, in 1940, to the tune of a traditional Swedish song " Vi gå över daggstänkta berg" ("We walk over dew-sprinkled mountains") first published in 1906. Later it turned out that the tune originated much earlier, likely in 15h-16th centuries as a mercenaries' march. The tune is known in a number of European countries, and its first usage in the land of Israel predates "Our Car".

At that time Bergstein lived in kibbutz Gvat, while Kantor lived in Na'an, which resulted in a minor controversy: the verse "Our Car" is about a truck that carried produce from Gvat to Tnuva. However, the trucks Kantor saw were different from that from Gvat, and when the truck from Gvat was restored, the restorers asked the publishers to make a new picture, based on the actual truck. the publishers were not ready to make a decision about the request.

History and commentary

The book was written upon the order of the Education Committee of the United Kibbutz union, who wanted to provide the kibbutz children with literary works that deal with kibbutz life and reflect the ideas and aspirations of kibbutzniks, i.e., essentially a propaganda of the kibbutz way of life. However, the work of Bergstein and Kantor turned out to be deeper than that, for which the book deserved its fame.Mor Fogelman Dvorkin
"בוא אליי פרפר נחמד": 80 שנה לספר שנולד כתעמולה אבל טמן בחובו ביקורת
("Come to Me, Nice Butterfly": 80 Years of a Book That Was Born as Propaganda but Contained Criticism), ''ynet'', February 19, 2025 Kantor's daughter Theresa stated that Ilse's work was not in any way associated with propaganda or glorification of the life in kibbutz. She simply drew what she saw in her everyday life. She even asked children for their opinions about her pictures and duly took them into a consideration. Art curator noted that while there was nothing political in Kantor's pictures, they still reflect the spirit of the time.

The short, catchy rhymes with child-friendly subjects are particularly suitable for small children.
By 1994, 500,000 copies of the book were printed, topping the Israeli bestseller list.

Influence and tribute

A 1960s Israeli pop group The High Windows had a satirical anti-war song written by Hanoch Levin "Bo Hayal shel Shokolad" (Come here, Chocolate Soldier"), which parodied the "Nice Buterfly". Hanoch Levin also wrote a parody to "Our Car" called "Our Child". It ends with the lines: " "He left in the morning and didn't return in the evening / All that's left was father, mother, eggs and milk".

In 2012 an Israeli postage stamp was issued as a tribute to the book in the series "Children's literature".

An Israeli children's show ''Parpar Nechmad'' is named after the verse. The theme song of the show, which includes the verse as a refrain, is sung by Ilanit (and released as a single: :he:פרפר נחמד (שיר)).Parpar Nechmad (Nice Butterfly) by Ilanit
/ref>

When Tnuva was sold to a Chinese company in 2014, a cartoon appeared in ''Haaretz'', in which the Chinese sing "''Our'' car is big and green". David Affar
איך נסע 'האוטו שלנו' משוודיה לקיבוץ גבת?
("How did 'Our Car' Travel from Sweden to Kibbutz Gvat?"), September 14, 2020

References

Further reading

*, "Nation Building and Children's Literary Canons. The Israeli Test Case", In: ''Canon Constitution and Canon Change in Children's Literature'', Routledge, 2016,
pp. 21-24

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Songs about insects
Israeli children's literature
1945 children's books
Hebrew-language children's books
Songs about cars
Israeli poetry
Israeli songs