Fireflies

There are so many wonderful things about summer and things to do this time of year that summer just flies by.  With all the running and get as much of summer activities in as you possible can type of crazy fast paced life that we are all experiencing it's nice to take the time to sit out and just enjoy a warm summer night.  One of my favorite things about summer nights has always been to watch fireflies.  I still enjoy spotting the flashing light of these neat insects.  So in the spirit of late summer nights under the stars I thought I'd share with you two lovely firefly books to enjoy with your little ones, and hopefully one dry night soon you can enjoy the silent natural light show of these bugs (which are actually beetles).

The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle


I found our copy of this book in a thrift store, and it was in rough shape.  It's an Eric Carle book! So I'm going with the family before loved the book a lot, the binding was well worn, the lights didn't work and there back cover had some of it missing, but I bought the book anyway because it was and Eric Carle book.  The same brilliant author/illustrator who wrote the classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Since we have owned this book, it has only received more love, and by love I mean it is literally falling apart from having been read so much.  One day far, far, in the future I will have to buy a new one to share with grand-kids.
Now about this book, the illustrations are classic Eric Carle in the colors, the brush strokes, and the geometric shapes.  The bold colors grab young children's attention and give them so much to look at and follow the story as you read to them.
The story itself is of a little firefly who is all alone, like the title suggest.  As he's searching for other lighting bugs he finds different light sources but then realizes that they aren't what he's looking for.  We follow this guy on his journey as he runs into a light bulb, flashlight, cars, eye, and then finally when all is quiet and dark again he finally finds other fireflies.  In the illustrations there's a sub-plot that is a family hearing a noise and going to see what's going on.
This is a book that we have found entertaining and makes you look forward to a summer night. 


Ten Flashing Fireflies


Written by Philemon Sturges
Illustrated by Anna Vojtech

This book brings me back to my own childhood and running around like crazy trying to catch lighting bugs.  Oh how fun that was on summer nights.
As the title implies this is a counting book.  I like that in this counting book you are counting both up and down at the same time so it's teaching children math.  There are 10 fireflies, as they catch each they add them up in the jar and subtract them from the field.  While the math isn't shown in numbers 10-1=9, that is the lesson that is taught.  Or I should say one of the lessons.  I love the different adjectives and verbs that Sturges uses to describe the fireflies light: burning, twinkling, flickering, blinking, and so on.  The use of different verbs, adjectives, adverbs are rich in picture books which helps develop a child's vocabulary.  The very last lesson in the book is probably the most important and relevant to the times right now, and that's to let what you capture free.  Collecting bugs and frogs, and the like is great for kids to have hands on experience and study and learn from nature, but each specimen that's caught needs to be let free.  The poor fireflies in the story are all in the jar and they stop being active or blinking, so the children let them free out into the night again.
The illustrations by Anna Vojtech are dark, they don't have bright saturated colors, but rather give you the feel of being out in the dark field at night.  The soft texture and muted colors capture the magic of summer nights.  I found it fun to look closely at the images and see that as the children are off trying to catch another lighting bug the jar is getting other animals visitors.  See if you children notice them while reading and you can talk about what it is.


Sadly my children don't have the same experience with fireflies as I did as a child and as is described in Ten Flashing Fireflies, in part it's because we don't live out in the country any more, but in larger part it's because their numbers are dwindling.  We still go out and enjoy camping and we still see fireflies but it's becoming more rare and they aren't nearly as plentiful as when I was growing up.

While I was putting this blog together I found fascinating information on the firefly!  If you would like to learn more about them please check out these sites:
Why Do Fireflies Glow? and how to attract them
National Geographic
Why Are Fireflies Disappearing?
NBC News: Dwindling Fireflies

Also some other books about them I have come across if you think you have a future entomologist in your mist check out these: