Friday, September 20, 2019

Sam the Firefly

Sam the Firefly. P.D. Eastman. 1958. 62 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: The moon was up when Sam came out.

Premise/plot: Sam is a lonely owl looking for a friend. He finds a friend in Gus the firefly. Sam is impressed by Gus’ trick of writing words in the air. But Gus gets carried away. He loses sight of right and wrong and good and bad. Sam tries to teach Gus to be responsible. Gus does NOT want to listen. But all actions have consequences. Gus learns this the hard way. Will Sam and Gus be reunited?!

My thoughts: I grew up reading Are You My Mother and Go, Dog, Go! But this was my first time reading Sam and the Firefly. This would have been one of the first beginning readers to be published—it was published in 1958. The story it tells is substantive. This isn’t a simple rhyming story about a pig in a wig or a frog on a log. It definitely seems more complex than Go, Dog, Go! I liked it overall. Gus was VERY naughty.

© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers

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