How Lumi Learned to Fly by David Michael: A Small Butterfly and a Big Message

You don’t have to fly like everyone else. You just have to fly like you. A simple story with a message that matters.

Synopsis

How Lumi Learned to Fly

Lumi has always dreamed of flying.

But when the time comes to spread her wings, Lumi discovers that learning to fly isn’t as easy as she imagined. With a little courage, determination, and encouragement from those who believe in her, Lumi begins to discover that sometimes the hardest part of reaching your dreams is simply believing you can.

Join Lumi on a sweet and inspiring adventure as she learns to face her fears, keep trying when things don’t go as planned, and discover the confidence that was inside her all along.

How Lumi Learned to Fly is a heartwarming story about courage, perseverance, self-confidence, and believing in yourself. Young readers will love following Lumi’s journey as she learns that mistakes and challenges are simply part of growing and learning.

A wonderful read for parents, teachers, and caregivers looking for a gentle story that encourages children to:

Believe in themselves
Try again when something feels difficult
Face new challenges with courage
Learn from mistakes
Discover their own unique strengths
Sometimes, you don’t need to know how to fly before you spread your wings. You just need to be brave enough to try.

Let Lumi show you that anything is possible when you believe in yourself!

Review

4 stars

It’s been a long time since I’ve read a children’s book, but when the author offered me a copy I thought: why not?

This review is written from the perspective of a parent of young children, albeit I am one whose children are now grown, so take it for what it is.

The illustrations are simple but charming: everything takes place over the span of a few minutes in a sunny meadow, with a sweet butterfly and a kind bumblebee as our main characters. Simple, focused, and perfectly pitched for young readers.

The story itself is straightforward. Lumi dreams of flying with the other butterflies, but her wings don’t seem to work the way she wants them to. A kind bumblebee steps in with exactly the right pep talk: you can fly. You just have to do it your own way, not theirs. And that is perfectly fine.

As you might guess, Lumi finds her confidence and reaches her goal. And the book offers this quietly beautiful line along the way: “I don’t fly like them. I fly like me, slow sometimes, steady other times, but I always move forward. And that still counts as flying.”

That message is gold. In a world that has become increasingly distrustful and unkind toward anyone who doesn’t conform to the so-called norms, a story that tells children their difference is not a flaw but simply their own way of moving through the world feels genuinely necessary. A lovely little book.

Thanks for reading.

Sophie