Every year, Lynn spends her summers roaming the forests of the Great Smoky Mountains and watching the fireflies light up the night. As she gets older, she realizes there's something special about these Great Smoky fireflies. Each night they seem to perform a dazzling synchronized light show!
She tries to learn more, but scientists tell her that synchronous fireflies don't exist in the western hemisphere. Lynn may not be a scientist, but she wonders like a scientist and pays attention like a scientist. She believes in herself and the silent song of the fireflies.
With determination and hard work, Lynn sets out to convince the scientific community that she's right--and to tell the world about the beauty of the firefly show she's seen her entire life.
Review Quotes:
*Attentive young Lynn relishes the "dark crystal waters" of the swimming hole and treasures of
"the light-dappled forest" of Elkmont in the Great Smoky Mountains. She spends summers exploring the woods from a family cabin there, though the Park Service is now displacing park residents. Curiosity about a striking synchronous firefly phenomenon--a hypnotizing six-second "spangled beat" that has mesmerized her her whole life--leads self-taught naturalist Lynn Frierson Faust down a long and rewarding research path that eventually proves these special lightning bugs' (Photinus carolinus) existence to the scientific community and invites the world to appreciate their wonder. Immersive watercolor-and-digital paintings create a world readers will long to get lost within, with moss clinging to hulking boulders and the shimmer of countless fireflies lighting up the darkening sky. A notable variety in perspectives and page layouts includes panels and lush full-page spreads, while a brilliantly designed rendering of the "exquisite unity of the light show fireflies" interspersed with swaths of darkness is a visual showstopper. Evocative language keeps pace, pairing admiring details about Lynn's patient work with pleasingly detailed descriptors of her environs: "Light cascades down the hillside, like a glittering, star-filled waterfall." Rich back matter demonstrates thorough research and supports young naturalists' continued curiosity. An absolute must-purchase--truly enlightening and positively radiant. --Boklist, STARRED Review "05/01/2025"
Fueled by English breakfast tea, a burning curiosity, and a love of research, Colleen Paeff writes from a book-lined office in an old pink house with a view of the Hollywood sign. Visit her online at ColleenPaeff.com.
Ji-Hyuk Kim has been illustrating for over ten years. His work has appeared in magazines, newspapers, and children's books--including the chapter book adaptations of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series, Ainsley Earhardt's Through Your Eyes, Firefly Song by Colleen Paeff, and Jennifer Weiner's The Littlest Bigfoot series, among others. Learn more at Hanuol.com.
Target Age: 4-8
Margaret K McElderry Books
Pub Date: June 10, 2025
0.4" H x 10.1" L x 11.3" W
40 pages
hardcover