In Catching Fireflies, a monster wants to enjoy nature by trapping elements of nature, but it does not work as it expects. The monster learns an important lesson regarding nature. The illustrations could have been more refined. Catching Fireflies would be a good book for toddlers. It has simple pictures and short sentences.

With message about appreciating the beauty of nature in it's element and not trying to capture and hoard it for ourselves this is a good book to put in the hands of children who might always be gathering rocks and flowers and leaves.

Thank you for providing me with this cute book.

Nature told by these authors as easily as possible for little kids, through the story of Monster, a creature that wants to collect nature and kept them inside jars.

Love the title.
A book that introduces Monster. A red blob with an engaging smile who loves Nature.
He finds a set of collection jars which he can use to store his examples for presentation and to remember.
However, the vibrancy of his environment soon deteriorates as picked flowers wilt, fire flies cease to glow. A fallen leaf dries out to dust and snow simply melts.
Consequently he learns a valuable lesson that nature can not be captured but needs to be entered and enjoyed on a daily basis or whenever you can.
Such immediacy and intimate interaction is the best way to enjoy one’s environment.
An engaging and simplistic character this tiny monster is a child’s equivalent to David Attenborough so we can only embrace him and delight in the magic and warm truth of this book.

It is a cute little story about a boy who loved nature and natural things.
He tried to capture them and put in closed jars. Doing this he learns a very important lesson that nature needs preservation.
Artwork is wonderful. Its main character is very cute. Simple and educational read for kids.
Thanks netgalley and the publisher for review copy.

What a nice story for littles! I like that little monster set the fireflies free! Children should always be encouraged to set the glowy little insects free before going to bed at night. I like, too, that the story shows there is no sense in bringing nature home. Nature is always there waiting for you to enjoy it! The illustrations were sweet!

I thought that this was a lovely story and Monster really reminded me of my daughter!

At the moment she is very much in to nature and is always collecting things when we go out on a walk to take home. I love that this story shows that sometimes, you can enjoy things more when they are in their natural settings, and they are then viewable by more and more people too.

It was well written and I enjoyed the images too - 4 stars from me for this one, highly recommended!!

This was a darling book! The illustrations were my favorite part of the book. Monster loves to collect nature and store it in jars, but then he realizes that storing nature in jars does not work. I could use this book in my classroom and have students draw what they see in nature. I liked how Monster chose things from all four seasons. Overall, this was a lovely story with stunning illustrations.

The illustrations in this book are unique and colorful. I couldn't buy into the story, though. It covers a lot of time for a picture book. The flower and the fireflies make it all the way through winter and into what appears to be the next summer before they start to show any wear. It felt like it was written to fill a certain agenda and books like that don't generally read well for me.

Cute little Monster loves nature and wants to keep his favorite parts in a jar. He discovers that nature is best left on its own! Sweet introduction for nature conservation for the littlest of humans.

Holding onto Nature

The little monster in this book is intrigued by what it sees in nature and wants to hold on to it forever. So it gets jars and places living things it likes that it sees in nature in them, like a pretty flower in spring, fireflies in the summer, and snow in winter. Soon the little monster realizes that these things don't last in jars. Nature is all around to enjoy; it doesn't need to keep it in jars. I think the message that nature is there for us to delight in, without having to keep it under glass, is a fairly decent one, though I don't really know if it's necessary for the children who this book is aimed at. I wonder if the children who might be reading this book along with their parents or caregiver might question why it took the flower so long to wilt. Most things the little monster put in the jars would decay or die rather quickly. So that might not feel quite right to the kids who would know this. I know that children sometimes want to take some living thing home from a nature walk or a day at the beach. I remember my mother having to convince my nephew to leave the tide pools alone and not put one of the sea creatures in his pocket. If you have a child who has problems understanding letting living things in nature remain in their habitat, this book could be a helpful way to open a discussion about it.

AUTHOR(S)

CELINA & LEO LAGNADO

SYNOPSIS

Catching Fireflies is a children’s fiction publication. It is the debut work of the Lagnado’s. The sole character is a hoarder of beautiful natural things. The story involves Monster as he follows his whim to track down and acquire a selection of insects and objects for his personal collection. He is curious, and acts from a sense of wanting to possess nature.

Once he decides to secure his chosen items, he first gathers together a set of jars in which to display them. Then the hunt is on to discover those things which he finds fascinating. His travels take him from woods, to snow covered fields and to the beach. Eventually Monster has his very own array of nature.

He quickly discovers that nature is best left in its natural habitat and learns a valuable lesson. Nature is best enjoyed out in the open where it is at its best and most beautiful.

CONCLUSION

The character Monster clearly has a love for all things natural and his love is so great he wants to own them. He quickly discovers that nature can’t remain beautiful unless it is allowed to live free.

It is a morality tale for little children and a tool to teach that you can’t have everything you want, and that sometimes it is better to enjoy things without possessing them.

⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Celina & Leo Lagnado, NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for affording me the opportunity to review Catching Fireflies.

This book is so cute! It sends a great lesson about enjoying nature in its true form and not trying to bring it indoors. It was the perfect length for a kids book and the illustrations were wonderful!

A cute book about nature for the little ones in our life. How great would it be to collect the scent of a wildflower or the neverending glow of a firefly!? I think the book sends a message that we must protect this Earth, as we can’t keep all of its beauty neatly stored on shelves.


Thank you to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the e-ARC in exchange for my review.

This is short and sweet story that will be perfect for toddlers. The illustrations were bright, the language was kid-friendly and the lesson taught was age appropriate. Great book for anyone who wants to talk about nature, the season, and/or conservation with young kiddos.

This book may be short but it is lovely. The illustrations perfectly match the story which I read with a 9 year old. She loved it and it inspired us to get out in nature and draw what we found. A great read.

A very cute little book about a very cute little monster who loves nature so much that he wants to collect it. We follow the monster as he adores nature and wants to keep more and more and more of it in little jars, but he learns a lesson along the way.

This book is beautiful, and really captures the feeling of awe that nature can bring. The story and charter are great and the illustrations simple but effective. I would highly recommend this for young children

This was a story told succinctly about enjoying nature and the outdoors and enjoying things in the moment and in person, which is something we can all appreciate right now. I think many parents and even children will appreciate its message. Though the art seemed sparse at parts-- lots of white space-- it was a cute style with clear colors for Monster and his surroundings.

As a mother of a nature fanatical four year old, this book was ideal.
We often see beautiful things in nature and the temptation to bring these things home to continue to admire them is strong.

In this colourful, simple book it clearly explores the downside of this . In a lovely way that is clear for smaller children to understand why we should appreciate nature where it is.

Lovely book.
I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

A lovely good with a wise message: nature is beautiful where it is, once you take something away from it the beauty fades. It is an easy read, especially for toddlers, with a likeable Monster character. The illustrations are basic, not very stylish but acceptable though. A recommended read for parents looking to entertain intelligently their children during the summer vacations.