Day 70: The Very Lonely Firefly

The beloved Eric Carle turns 82 this Friday, June 25th, so we'd like to dedicate this week's selections to him.  He has authored and illustrated so many fabulous titles that it is really hard to choose which we love best, and given that there are over 60 titles that bear his name, there are still many we have not yet read.  Of course, we've already featured one of our absolute favorites, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? back on Day 7, which was also his very first book.  But today, on this first day of summer, I thought we'd feature a more seasonal favorite, The Very Lonely Firefly.  Sadly, we don't see many fireflies where we live in Massachusetts, but we saw some last weekend while visiting my family in Connecticut and they were beautiful.  As a child, I used to love going out at night and catching them in jars, completely mesmerized by their glow.  What fascinating little creatures!  My children love Carle's classic about the lonely little firefly who is searching for his friends.  He spies many other sources of light in the night -- a candle, a flashlight, a car's headlights -- before finally finding a group of fellow fireflies.  Carle's illustrations are unique, as always, with an interesting blend of colors to create wonderful nighttime scenes.  My son particularly loves the pages with the family car and the fireworks, and obviously the very last page is our absolute favorite of all.  What child doesn't immediately fall in love with those twinkling lights and want to see them again and again?  I love how we can see the lights flashing through on the second to last page, too -- it makes us even more excited to turn the page and get to the end!  I don't particularly care for the dialogue going on within the pictures so sometimes leave that part out, but it can be a fun conversational element for older children.  We received this book as a hand-me-down, and miraculously, those little lights are still going strong.  If you're looking for a great bedtime story to read on a summer night, try The Very Lonely Firefly.  Those little flashing lights are bound to bring a twinkle to your child's eye.