Alice Walker and Pratibha Parmar expose the secret of female genital mutilation, a practice that affects one hundred million of the world's women. New Introductions by the Authors.

Alice Celia Martowski Walker grew up in Ludlow, MA. She has lived in many U.S. cities with her husband Charlie and their two daughters, Michele and Vanessa. Alice and Charlie are now retired in Chicago, IL. Alice enjoys volunteering, many artistic pursuits, gardening, long walks, and time with family. The original story was written when her granddaughter Elizabeth was five years old. Elizabeth, now thirteen, loves the story and recently exclaimed ... "I think you should publish a book because other kids have butterflies too!" She is Alice's love and inspiration! Elizabeth and Alice hope that children and adults reading this story will know that it's okay to have butterflies!