Piero and the Butterfly Caterpillar is a children's book—though adults should read it too. It's a special one: a short story told through beautiful drawings and written by many hands. Piero can only fly in his dreams, trapped in his cocoon like a caterpillar, until one day he finally emerges. Still a bit caterpillar, but now he soars through the air like the butterflies. A simple story, written by young people and adults who are part of the "Lamp of Wishes" (see O.eL. No. 2/2015)—and in many ways, it is their story too.
This is the first publication from their newly founded publishing house, born from the interest and support that the nonprofit association 11Radio has shown toward the Lamp of Wishes.
What makes this initiative remarkable is not just that these young people carried out a real work project, but above all that people with intellectual disabilities are engaged, firsthand, in intellectual labor—not confined to purely practical, routine tasks. The caterpillar has left its cocoon and taken flight. The book is currently available only in select children's bookstores in Rome, but will soon be distributed to other cities as well. You can order it online at ilbrucofarfalla.com
Rita Massi, 2016