Kids fluttered their butterfly wings at a dance workshop inspired by Leigh author Isabel Bee’s book The Butterfly Who Would Not Open Her Wings.
The children gathered at the Leigh Community Centre on Tuesday where they got to wear butterfly outfits and learn a dance.
There was the giant light up Ballerina butterfly character, the shy Mister Caterpillar, and a brave, patient little girl who helps the Butterfly find her wings.
Isabel said: “We had so much positive feedback The children were engaged and happy. Parents wanted to know more and where we will be next. I am having meetings with my dancer Val Herron in the coming weeks and we want to develop and repeat what we have done in the town and beyond.”
Isabel has ME and has documented her struggles with living with it and how being creative helps her.
She said: “As an ME sufferer I have spent years being bedbound unable to move or tolerate light or sound. I felt like the caterpillar in his Chrysalis. “It is my drawing and stories that came from this place when I was well enough to sit in my garden for some time again.”
The book was published in 2020 and Isabel has also published The Plum Tree, Sometimes and Fox and Dog.
She has a new publishing deal with a publisher in Bloomsbury, London, for her next book Dermis. It is a book of poems inspired from time spent in her garden, which is where all of her inspiration comes from.
Isabel’s books are currently used by therapists working with children and adults alike.
“I have used depth psychology in the seemingly simple prose in order to help other people when life is very difficult, as mine has been, and is,” she said.
An extract from the book: “Oft times, our true reflection Is hidden from our sight A good and true friend Always helps us see The beauty we have inside”
“So, perhaps here then There’s a story to tell That though sometimes it’s dark No more In dark must we dwell”
And the plane takes off!
To find out more and to buy one of Isabel's books visit www.isabelbeebooks.org.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here