© 2019 Gilbert M. Balderrama

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

      This is a work of fiction. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

       Danny Bundy and the Search for the Butterfly

      Brown Books Kids

       16250 Knoll Trail Drive, Suite 205

       Dallas, Texas 75248

       www.BrownBooksKids.com (972)381-0009

      A New Era in Publishing®

      Publisher’s Cataloging-In-Publication Data

      Names: Balderrama, Gilbert M., author. | Phillips, Luciana Dewi, illustrator.

      Title: Danny Bundy and the search for the butterfly / Gilbert Balderrama ; illustrated by Luciana Dewi Phillips.

      Description: Dallas, Texas : Brown Books Kids, [2019] | Interest age level: 007-010. | Summary: “While searching for a beautiful monarch butterfly tobring to his class’s show-and-tell, Danny Bundy meets some new friends in the magical forest behind his house. He learns all about different plants and animals, and how to be respectful towards them and their homes.”--Provided by publisher.

      Identifiers: ISBN 9781612542874

      Subjects: LCSH: Monarch butterfly--Juvenile fiction. | Forest animals--Juvenile fiction. | Forest plants--Juvenile fiction. | Forest ecology--Juvenile fiction. | Respect--Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Monarch butterfly--Fiction. | Forest animals--Fiction. | Forest plants--Fiction. | Forestecology--Fiction. | Respect--Fiction.

      Classification: LCC PZ7.1.B3565 Da 2019 | DDC [E]--dc23

      eISBN 978-1-61254-322-2

       LCCN 2018956710

      Printed in the United States

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      For more information or to contact the author,

      please go to www.DannyBundy.com.

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated to Mother Earth and all of her inhabitants. I hope we, as caretakers of this beautiful planet, get it right sooner than later. She is, after all, our mother.

      Acknowledgments

      I would first like to thank my friend Alvina Kwong, who was kind enough to show me the path to Brown Books Publishing Group, where I found the answer to my literary dreams.

      I would also like to thank my publisher, Brown Books Publishing Group, Sherry LeVine (aka the Director of Happiness), and the excellent team for believing in me and a little guy named Danny Bundy. Sherry, you have made my journey through the publishing process a pleasure, and I truly appreciate your professional support and guidance.

      Luciana Philips, my illustrator, what can I say? You and your visions of Danny Bundy’s world captured everything within my mind. You are my living miracle. The only way I can say thank you is by continuing with you along this journey with Danny Bundy. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next. Thanks, Lucy.

      I would like to thank all my family, friends, and supporters who came forward at the times I needed them the most. I’m sure you all know who you are.

      Lastly, I would like to say thank you to my wife, Jane, who was there every step of the way. Jane, your input was critical to my writing process, and I very much appreciate your thoughts and opinions.

      Preface

      The thought of writing Danny Bundy and the Search for the Butterfly came to me one cold winter morning when my wife and I lived in Big Bear Lake, California. My world at the time was many feet high in pure-white snow, and as I gazed at it, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to see a beautiful, colorful butterfly fly on by?” I felt seeing a monarch butterfly (my favorite) would certainly break up the monotonous whiteness of it all. But, alas, there are no butterflies in the heart of winter, so I had to accept the fact that, around my place, white was going to be the color for the foreseeable future. With this thought in mind, I sat down and found a way out through a little eight-year-old boy named Danny Bundy, a kid who would not accept no for an answer.

      I hope my book, Danny Bundy and the Search for the Butterfly, will delight and enrich the lives of both children and parents alike. I also hope that the message within will encourage everyone to reflect on the state of our planet and the need to become better stewards of its many precious resources.

      It was a great day to go looking for butterflies! The sun was up. The air was crisp. The new net Danny Bundy’s dad had given him was empty now, but Danny was so excited about the butterflies he was going to find for show-and-tell next Monday.

      I could try and bring a bullfrog, Danny thought. But every boy brings a bullfrog or a scared squirrel in a cage. A bullfrog would be too easy. Danny wanted to win the show-and-tell contest this year. He would bring the biggest, most beautiful butterfly in the whole world and win an awesome pizza party!

      Danny slurped down a bowl of cereal. He filled his backpack with a peanut butter sandwich, chips, and a thermos of milk. He tipped his cap and said goodbye to his mother.

      “Don’t go too far, Bundy!” his mother called. “And be back before dark!”

      His whole life, for whatever reason, his parents had always called him Bundy. Danny smiled at his mother. “Don’t worry, Ma,” he said. “I’ll be back before you can say, ‘Catch that butterfly!’” In a flash, Danny jumped off the back-porch steps, over the wire fence, and into the forest in search of the beautiful monarch butterfly.