Fireflies, Fireflies, Light My Way (Picture Puffins) - Softcover

Jonathan London is the creator of twenty-three books about lovable and enduringly popular Froggy. He is also a poet and a novelist. Jonathan and his wife live in Graton, California.

PreSchool-Grade 2?The versatile author of the wonderfully amusing "Froggy" stories (Viking) and the poetic Eyes of Grey Wolf (Chronicle, 1993) has taken a phrase from a Native American lullaby and creatively expanded it to encompass the wild world of a swamp. The rhythmic text is similar to Bill Martin's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Holt, 1983). A child looks out over a swamp and says: "Fireflies, fireflies, light my way. Lead me to the place...where the turtles play." He asks each animal to lead him to the next, until at last he comes to a pond where they all play together. Set against rich, deep-blue backgrounds, the acrylic illustrations are stunning, luminously conceived double-page paintings of the creatures in their habitat?turtles, frogs, beavers, catfish, wood ducks, muskrats, raccoons, crawdads, otters, and alligators. Messier's jewel-toned, stylized art is reminiscent of Henri Rousseau's jungle paintings, placing equal emphasis on the surrounding flora as well as the fauna. In each picture, the artist not only hints at the next animal to be visited but also says farewell to the previous one, underlining the theme of the continuity and harmony of living things implied by the text. A beautifully executed book that will be an excellent story-time offering as well as a good independent read.?Judith Constantinides, East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.