Seeking Light

A first sighting every year sends a surge of happiness into your soul.  They are harbingers of a seasonal shift and the continuity of Mother Nature.  As a glow in the cloak of darkness, they are briefly like stars, shining on and off and on and off.

This light they make is akin to Morse code, a special beetle communication, welcoming mates and warning territory encroachers and predators.  Firefly Home (Nosy Crow, June 11, 2019) written by Jane Clarke with illustrations by Britta Teckentrup is an endearing, participatory story for younger readers.  A firefly is lost.  Will she find her companions?

There's no place like home,
and this special place is home for fireflies.

Fireflies have a bright light inside
them that shimmers and shines.

We learn Florence, a firefly, is alone, far from home.  We are asked to help her.  Between the leaves on a nearby tree, there is a light.  It might be another firefly.

When we turn the page, we discover it is a crescent moon glimmering on water.  There appears to be more light in the distance.  We follow with Florence.  It is not her home but a beacon for boats.  With another page turn, there is light, but it is not the serenity this firefly seeks. In fact, we are asked to encourage her to fly faster to keep pace with this line of lights.

Now, our lightning bug has entered a city.  There are lights in nearly every window.  It's distracting.  How can she see another being like her among all this light?  Florence needs to be back in the dark; a park is the perfect place.

It is requested we make a wish, a wish on a group of falling stars.  Eyes closed; we wish until a shout is heard.  This voice demands our attention and we comply.  We are with Florence, one hundred percent.  This is why we utter bedtime words of affection.


As soon as author Jane Clarke tells us a firefly is missing, we feel instant tension.  When she enlists the help of readers after introducing us to Florence, we are ready.  We are asked to turn pages, flap our hands, speak words to Florence, point to Florence, wish, close our eyes, trace trails and whisper words.  Descriptive and alliterative verbs and adjectives fashion a gentle rhythm.  The repetition of

Could that be home? and

No, that's not home.

ties the different sources of light together and connects us further with Florence.  Here are two passages.

Where shall we start?
Oh, look! There's a bright light
peeping through the trees.
Could that be home?
Let's turn the page and see.

No, that's not home.  It's just the big, bright
moon above the sparkling sea.


When you open the book case of this title, the inviting night scene replete with hues of blue, golden yellow, brown and bits of green continues on the left side of the spine.  Florence, the firefly needing to find home, is joined by four other fireflies.  They are circling around text inviting us into the story.  On the front Florence, her stream of light and the title text are varnished.  To the left, on the back, the light arcs of the four fireflies are varnished.

The opening and closing endpapers are bright yellow.  Florence flies between the text on the title page.  Five of her companions fly through the night sky at the end on the publication and dedication page.

The digital illustrations, spanning two pages throughout the title, rendered by Britta Teckentrup are like multi-layered collage.  The color palette seen on the book case is used throughout the book to imply a night setting but realistic shades are used in all the elements.  The point of view varies with the text, giving us a panoramic display and then, for emphasis, brings us close to Florence.

There is a hint of the type of light prior to each page turn, allowing for readers to make predictions.  Florence's wide-eyed looks and her body posture depict her mood as she journeys from place to place.  This encourages us to assist her with enthusiasm.

One of my favorite illustrations is of a multi-arched brick bridge spanning from left to right.  Traveling on top of the bridge is a large passenger train with numerous glistening windows, moving from left to right.  Above the train is a sky with sparkling stars and a few puffs of clouds.  Florence is trying to keep pace with the train, flying alongside it.  Her light stream is trailing behind her for half the length of the train.  Beneath the bridge and through the arches we can see hills dotted with trees and in the distance on the right, a few buildings in the city.


For children who have never seen a lightning bug or those who look forward to seeing them every summer, Firefly Home written by Jane Clarke with illustrations by Britta Teckentrup is a treat they can hold in their hands and read repeatedly.  Whether as a storytime selection or a cozy one-on-one bedtime read aloud, this title increases appreciation for our natural world at the same time it asks for our assistance.  The cheerful narrative and lively illustrations inspire and support participation.    I'm happy to have this book in my personal collection.  It will make an excellent addition to your professional collections for a calming read aloud, a unit on insects or a theme of offering help to those who need it the most.

To learn more about Jane Clarke and Britta Teckentrup and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites.  Jane Clarke has accounts on Facebook and Twitter.  Britta Teckentrup has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.  At Nosy Crow, Candlewick Press and Penguin Random House, you can view interior images.

You might be interested in the information at Firefly Conservation & Research.  Here is a link to firefly videos at National Geographic.

..."If I Never Get Back."

On February 24, 2016 people around the world will be celebrating World Read Aloud Day.  One of this year's activities leading up to the festivities, focused on the sheer joy of reading, is the 7 Strengths Countdown.  These seven weeks highlighting specific themes, belonging, curiosity, friendship, kindness, confidence, courage and hope, began the week of January 3, 2016.

Very early this morning I finished
a book, a book with words and pictures resonating long after the final pages are turned and the cover is closed, which embodies every single one of those ideas.  Firefly Hollow (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, August 18, 2015) written by Alison McGhee with illustrations by Christopher Denise is a place called home by firefly, cricket, vole and human nations.  It is an extraordinary place if you have a true heart, a heart ready to believe.

Swoop!
Firefly flitted through a knothole in the hollow tree, straight out into the clearing and straight back in again.  The night air outside the hollow tree was cool, and the air inside was warm.  She whooshed back and forth from cool to warm, outside to inside, faster and faster and faster until---yikes---she accidentally side-swiped Elder.

Since she was a teeny, tiny baby Firefly was watched over and encouraged by Elder.  They had a secret code for communicating, three fast and two long blinks which meant a variety of words depending on the situation.  Regardless of what she learned in her Basics of Blinking, Air Safety and Fear of Giants classes, Firefly practiced her midair flips, loop-de-loops, figure eights and timed her endurance flying.  Firefly had dreams; to explore beyond the safety of her home, to get closer to the miniature giant and to fly among the stars traveling to the moon.  The other fireflies thought she was crazy.

Cricket was usually getting in trouble during the Telling Temperature, High Jumping or Fear of Giants classes taught by Teacher.  He understood the reasons for fearing all water, the sun and giants but he had secrets.  Cricket had been close to the miniature giant, a boy called Peter, many, many times.  At night when the other crickets were singing about the natural world, Cricket hid away from the others among the reeds on the sandy shore, singing the words Peter and his friend sang,

Take me out to the ballgame...

Cricket had a dream; he wanted to be the Yogi Berra of crickets, learning to catch.  The other crickets thought he was crazy.

Vole was the last of his kind.  All the other river voles had lost their lives in a great flood (the giants had destroyed a beaver dam) when he was very young.  He now lived on a boat crafted of cedar by his grandfather tied to the roots of a white birch on the bank of the river.  He practiced a series of sailor knots over and over and memorized the River Vole's Guide.  Many seasons had come and gone and Vole had never left this spot.  He had a dream to sail, as his ancestors had done for years, down the river south to the sea.  The other animals highly respected Vole.

Both Cricket and Firefly were told giants could not see or hear them but after curious Firefly found Cricket, they made discoveries of their own.  These lead to a summer like none other ever experienced before in any of their lives. Firefly, Cricket and Peter helped and healed one another.  Vole watched, waited and cared for the two small creatures.

As the days grew shorter, the leaves started to look a little less green, and Peter's parents kept talking about school (He is refusing to go for reasons I will let you uncover.), a hurtful encounter at the hollow tree had Firefly doing the impossible.  Nations united in unforgettable moments.  Words of wisdom and comfort

You'll know when the time is right.
I'll be watching over you.
Let it come to you.

bound in hope a courageous, kind and confident cricket, firefly, vole and boy.  Their curiosity and sense of adventure created a friendship built on the need to belong.


The realm of Firefly Hollow is a place tucked away outside the hustle and bustle of city life, a small space of trees, leaves, grasses, and wild flowers near a river running to the sea.  We only know of two homes of humans near the wildlife community.  Alison McGhee fashions a world we want to reach out, hold gently in our hands and store in our hearts forever.  In our mind's eye we can see the hollowed tree, home to the firefly nation, the school training all the crickets, the outside and interior of Vole's boat and the flat rock, sandy beach and home of the boy Peter.  We share balmy nights lit by stars and a moon and days full of summer sunshine.

The conversations between the characters are genuine, full of true emotion.  We are also privy to the thoughts of Firefly, Cricket, Vole and Peter.  In addition to the dialogue between the characters McGhee has a narrator softly and subtly unfolding all the parts of the characters' lives, past and present, so we completely and wholeheartedly feel a kinship with them.  Here are some sample passages.

Firefly floated closer still.  This song was not a cricket song at all.  Firefly could hardly believe it, but this song was, in fact, a giant song.   It was the same song that the miniature giant used to sing, back in the days when his friend was still there and they played catch on the shore.

"I don't care..."

This was a song about forbidden things: giants and ball games and crowds.  Firefly fluttered her wings just enough to stay aloft, trying to be as quiet as possible, so that she wouldn't disturb the unknown cricket and his song.

"...if I never get back."

Somewhere out there was a cricket who snuck off at night to sing about something forbidden, something dangerous, something that none of the other crickets wanted.  Somewhere out there was a
cricket
like
her.

Now the sun went down, and the clearing in the woods began to glow with fireflies.  Vole watched the little rebel cricket hop down the creature path and hide himself in the reeds by the riverbank.  Every time Vole heard this particular cricket's song, he crept out onto this deck to listen.  There was something about the little cricket and his song that made him dream of faraway places.  Of what he himself might see, when he finally sailed downstream and beheld the great waters beyond.

Peter tilted his head in the way that meant he was trying to figure something out.  How could Cricket explain to him?
"After we die, we turn into music," he said.  "And we're everywhere."  They turned into the sound of the wind, rustling the leaves on the trees.
The crunch of an acorn in the fall.
The tap-tap-tap of a woodpecker's beak on a tree.
All these sounds were music.  Crickets and the memory of them were still part of the world, even if they were invisible.


The illustrations in this book by Christopher Denise will literally take your breath away.  You are introduced to Vole, Firefly and Cricket during a nighttime conversation along the river bank in the initial visual on the dust jacket.   The luminosity seen here is found in the fourteen full color single page images placed within the interior of this story.  

These eloquent pictures depict fireflies in flight, one doing loop-de-loops beneath a full moon, Cricket gazing at the captured baseball card of Yogi Berra, sunlight streaming through the trees into the clearing, and Peter, eyes open wide in wonder, peering at Cricket and Firefly near their flat rock.  Each image is a study in light and shadow, delicate details drawing you into the world of Firefly Hollow.  Numerous drawings in black and white and various sizes further support the narrative.  Each chapter begins with an oval picture above the text.  One particular image of a small paper boat caused me to burst into tears.

One of my favorite (I love all of them.) illustrations is the interior of Vole's boat at night.  He is sitting in his chair which rests on a small rug on the plank floor, an open book on his lap.  Firefly is floating upward toward her hammock-like bed in a spider web.  Cricket is sleepily leaning against the folded paper boat resting on Vole's table.  The room is lit from the glow of the fire.  Readers will wish they could join them.


Firefly Hallow written by Alison McGhee with illustrations by Christopher Denise is a marvelous story of longing, loss and love.  It's one you want to read at least once a year.  It's a story you will want to share with as many as you can.  Read it one-on-one or to an entire group, but read it you must.  This book is a classic in the truest sense.

To learn more about Alison McGhee and Christopher Denise please visit their websites by following the links attached to their names.  They both have more information about this book on their respective blogs (Christopher's) which are linked at their websites.  At the publisher's website are several more interior images as well as an excerpt from this book.  Take a moment to read Q & A with Alison McGhee at Publishers Weekly about this title.  Alison McGhee also talks about her writing process for this book at The Pippin Insider.  Christopher Denise and Nick Patton chat together on The Picturebooking Podcast. 

Update:  Enjoy this broadcast on MRPNews 'Firefly Hollow' The children's book that began with a painting  Writer Alison McGhee on 'Firefly Hollow' and the power of poetry

Golden Glowing, Flying Flashes In The Dark

When you least expect it, there they are.  In the middle of a neighborhood game of hide and seek, during a late night stroll or when you are coming in off the lake after a fishing adventure, the cooling summer air in all directions will be filled with the tiniest lights flashing off and on. Those beetles with bodies that glow have taken flight.

Whether standing still among them or moving about to hold one for a moment; no matter how many times you've seen them, the wonder never ends.  Summon your memories of summers' past.  Author Dianne Ochiltree and illustrator Betsy Snyder have combined their talents to capture the magic of a single evening in It's A Firefly Night (Blue Apple Books).


When the moon is high
and the stars are bright,
Daddy tells me,
"It's a firefly night!"

Yes, she can see them all around her house, filling her yard with lightning gleams.  Joyfully jumping off the porch, now placing them in her jar, she still notices the warm air and gentle grass on her bare feet.

The container, a pulsing lamp, is a gathering spot, a layover, for the nighttime creatures.  She counts their numbers up to five, running to show her Daddy her temporary treasure.  Later, she places the jar on the ground, carefully holding one bug in her hand before she sends it flying away.

As each takes wing, she again counts their numbers, backward from ten, watching as they pass over familiar landmarks.  Marveling at their movement and light, she wonders.  Hand in hand as she and her Daddy walk back home, she asks the one question such an enchanted encounter inspires.


With eleven four-line verses, the second and fourth line rhyming, Dianne Ochiltree wraps readers in the warmth of this summer adventure.  Lilting words form a sensory luster all their own; shimmer, glimmer, sparkle, and shine. Metaphor and alliteration add to the melodious mood.


A double page illustration of the little girl and her little dog, enjoying their firefly fun stretches across the matching jacket and cover; the front and back jacket having a special addition, a raised glitter detail on eight spots.  Opening and closing endpapers continue the nightscape with the starry sky, lightning bugs, a grassy hill, evergreens and bushes.  The rich color palette seen on the jacket and cover is continued throughout the title in a series of lush, luminous two page visuals.

A cheerful variety of textures is used on all the items in each of the pictures; the marbleized moon, the scalloped roof, the lacy overlay on the girl's nightgown, her Daddy's checkered shirt and slippers, and the patterned fireflies' bodies and wings. In an email message received from Snyder she indicates I typically create my art by hand-painting textures, scanning them in, and collaging them on the computer using Photoshop. I use a mix of materials—acrylics, watercolor, pastels, gouache, etc.

The intricate details delight; the fireflies on the dog's nose and tail, the little red bird who follows their walk, the owl, skunk and fox in the opening view of the neighborhood, the caterpillar chewing a leaf, the smiles on the firefly faces or the spiderweb on her swing set. Betsy Snyder further elevates the elated feeling of the story by altering views; the first three illustrations zoom in closer and closer to the girl and her dog as they gather in the fireflies, in another readers look down on the girl as she gazes upward and in one the focus shifts to her outstretched hand, a lightning bug on a fingertip.

It is nearly impossible to pick out a favorite illustration but the close-up of the flowers and grasses with the caterpillar and ladybugs among them, surrounding the jar filled with five fireflies, showing only the girl's hands, seems to represent the the special moments of the entire evening.  Of course, the final two pages showing her and her Daddy walking along a path toward their house, the pup scampering ahead, the night alight with stars and fireflies, is a gem too.

It's A Firefly Night written by Dianne Ochiltree with art by Betsy Snyder is a light-hearted, absolutely charming, poetic portrait of a daughter and her father enjoying one of summer's precious pleasures.

After the story nine facts about fireflies are found in glowing orbs set in a night sky among the lightning bugs and stars.  Follow the links embedded in the author and illustrator names to their official websites.  This link is to the publisher website where several two-page spreads are available for viewing.