Sam and the Firefly

I am reminded of myself and my neighborhood playmates when I read this book. I first read it to myself at age six (I'm now 57!). At that time, I'm sure, my perceptions of myself were more like Sam the owl. Gus the firefly was (I thought) more like my big brother and the "rotten" kids in the neighborhood. Their idea of "fun" occasionally wound up getting me or someone else hurt.

Now that I"m older and wiser, I see a bit of myself in both of these characters. While it is certainly tempting to read this book to children approving of Sam and disdaining Gus, I think a better approach would be to acknowledge that we are all a bit like Sam and a bit like Gus. After all, Gus wasn't really out to hurt anyone--he just wanted to have fun. His problem was that he could only see his actions' consequences from his own point of view.

I, too, write fiction for children. This is precisely the sort of story that I endeavor to create: believable characters sharing interesting adventures through realistic dialogue that results in a tale that is at once entertaining and spiritually edifying. Bravo, P.D. Eastman! Well done!

I have never forgotten reading *Sam and the Firefly* as a child, and I never will. One of my children projects all of his naughty deeds onto Sam; the other wants me to be sure to read every single word on every single page. This is a book that, on all levels, just plain works.
Gus is a law-abiding owl who teaches Sam to make words with his fire-fly light. Sam likes the words but soon is into mischief, writing "cold dogs" above a hot dog stand and nearly causing a riot by writing "free" above a movie theater. His tricks border on the dark as he almost causes cars to collide. The scary darkness of the tale never comes to anything but engages the reader completely. My children worried about the outcome, and wondered (like Gus) how to control Sam. The book even becomes tense when Sam ends up in a closed glass jar and needs rescuing.
Yes, Gus is a lot like a parent. Sam is a lot like a child. And the book is full of learning to read and testing limits and innocently causing real danger and true friendship and sticking together and...it amazes me how seamlessly Eastman puts all of this material together in a riveting story. This may be the best Eastman book of all. It may also be one of the least preachy and most educational books I know. Dark and light, good and bad. It's all there.

What a great book. This is another book that stands out as one of my childhood favorites. When my boys were born, my Mom gave me a copy as a gift because she remembered how much I enjoyed it as a boy. This is such a fun book to read to a child, especially when you hear a three-year-old say, "You old goose! You old hen!"

That is pricless! Gus and Sam are two of my favorite P.D. Eastman characters, by far. Such a great book from an outstanding children's author.

Marc Schmatjen, author of My Giraffe Makes Me Laugh

This was my son's absolutely favorite book when he was about 4 or 5. (He is now 29.) Every time we went to the library, he checked it out. I think I finally bought him his own copy. I am purchasing a copy now to give to him for when he eventually has his own son or daughter. Lovely memories.

My children really love this book, from beginning to end!!! It is one of their favorites and they have been asking for it by name ever since their first reading. Very good morale- and a fun and happy ending!

If you read the book Nurtureshock you will find out about studies that show kids who watch TV shows about sibling fights (and resolutions) do not learn to be nicer to their siblings. Instead, they learn new ways to be mean and nasty to their siblings. Most shows spend a lot of time showing the misbehavior and only a small amount of time is dedicated to the actual resolution.

This is the exact problem with this book. After bringing it home, my toddler began to demonstrate more and more that she was not going to do something when I asked her to. I am not an authoritarian parent that demands obedience. I read books like Unconditional Parenting about the importance of working with kids rather than doing things to them. I take my time, get on eye level with her, and explain and explain and explain. Up until we started reading this book, these techniques worked. Then, suddenly, she was ignoring me - just flat out not responding to me when I tried talking to her. Sort of like how Sam asks Gus to stop, and he doesn't stop.

Finally I got so frustrated that I expressed to her how angry it makes me when she ignores me. SHE actually started to cry and said "like Gus the Firefly"!! I have no doubt that this book is where she learned about this kind of behavior.

And the consequence for Gus's behavior? Being put in a jar and driven in a truck? Is that a metaphor for time out? Because I don't use time outs. And causing car accidents? Causing planes to fly off course? Falsely advertising for businesses? All the while Sam keeps telling him to stop (without explaining why he should stop) and Gus just ignores him and keeps playing bad tricks. These are not things that I want modeled for my kids! Sam still plays with him, and I suppose that's a good thing, because even though Gus made a mistake his friend still likes him (unconditional friendship).

An older kid might be able to get the moral that it is better to use our talents for good rather than bad. But for younger tots, I would caution parents to make sure you talk about Gus's actions and point out the danger in them. Either that or just avoid this book completely.

An old favourite that many parents would have read themselves as children. A great book both as a story book to be read to younger children and a first reader for children as they get older and learn to read themselves. The story is quite funny and is about being responsible and the consequences of one's actions.

My son inherited the audiotape of this book when his Kindergarten teacher was cleaning out her room at the end of the school year, so I bought the book to go along with it. We have enjoyed other titles by P.D. Eastman and this was equally pleasing.

I have always loved PD Eastman books for their gentle good humor... but Sam & The Firefly, in my opinion, is a disaster. It sends wrong message about fireflies, imbues them with uncharacteristic traits. I can't find a shred of "cute" or "funny" in the story, even putting aside the lack of real-world lessons. One horror after another: car crashes, planes down... thie illustrations are wonderful on their own merit, but I find no value in this story.

The firefly in this book causes car and airplane crashes, and insults people in bizarre ways. The story is a little demented for a children's book. Also, women are conspicuously absent from the story. Definitely NOT one of Eastman's best.