Living Lights: Fireflies in Your Backyard

by Nancy Loewen, Brandon Reibeling (Illustrator)

Overview

Describes the physical characteristics, life cycle, and behavior of fireflies. Includes life cycle and activity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781404804470
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	09/01/2003
Series:	Backyard Bugs
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.12(d)
Lexile:	600L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 9 Years

About the Author

Nancy Loewen grew up on a farm in southwestern Minnesota, surrounded by library books and cats. She’s published more than 140 books for children and young adults. The LAST Day of Kindergarten and Four to the Pole (co-authored with polar explorer Ann Bancroft) were Minnesota Book Award finalists. Her Writer’s Toolbox series received a Distinguished Achievement Award from the Association of Educational Publishers. Nancy has also received awards from The American Library Association, the New York Public Library, and the Society of School Librarians International.

Nancy lives in St. Paul and has an MFA in Creative Writing from Hamline University. She likes to read, cook, take long walks, and photograph oddities from thrift stores. Please visit her website at nancyloewen.net.

Table of Contents

Tiny stars - A firefly's body - What do fireflies eat - Firefly eggs - Into the night - Life cycle of a firefly - Fun facts - Make a glowing firefly.

Editorial Reviews

Find out what makes fireflies flash and how they go from eggs to adults. Along with full-color illustrations and informative text, fun facts and a words-to-know section reveal more about the insects that children see in their own backyards. This book is part of the new Backyard Bugs Series.

Learning Magazine

Author Nancy Loewen and illustrator Brandon Reibeling have delivered a stunning collection of Backyard Bugs books for primary readers. Like all the books in this series, Tiny Workers: Ants in Your Backyard is beautifully written and full of kid-friendly information. Each book offers a festival of color merged with text that can be independently navigated by second and third grade readers or enjoyed as a read-aloud by younger students. These books brim with charmingly crafted sentences that beckon readers: Ants live in "a-mazing little homes" where "the dirt is like the door to their house." Although each book in the collection stands admirably on its own, my second-graders were lucky enough to have all six volumes to review. We shared the books together, and then each child chose one book to study thoroughly and become our "expert" on that insect. While reading, we all noted the same engaging features. First, the pictures, shich are huge, scientifically accurate, and often drawn from a surprising point of view. These illustrations had children clamoring to gaze into compound eyes or between palpi. Second, additional and unconventional information is featured in magnifying glasses on each page and at the end of the book. These facts made every one of us (including me) say, "Hey, I never knew that!" The well-organized table of contents, index, and glossary provide the opportunity to teach the children how to use these text supports, and simple extension activities invite them to revisit ideas from the books. I’ve been studying insects with my students for years, but I have never seen a collection of books that I liked as much as this one. More importantly, these books are also endorsed by the most discriminating critics of all: the kids!

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