This story drags on for some bit. It took awhile for me to get invested in it and even by then I wasn't following as intently as I would have liked. The drawings are fun to look at and the two characters are very creative. The way Sam and Gus develop a friendship from nothing is so sweet. It bounces around however and hard to get a good grasp of what just happened. It seems to be primarily silly and with that perspective it is a good story to read for silly behaviors and stories. ( )

"Sam and the Firefly" is a story about an owl named Sam befriending a firefly named Gus. Since Sam is only awake at night, there isn't anyone for him to play with. He comes across Gus when he is making different lines and shapes with his light, which amazes Sam. Sam teaches Gus how to make different words with his light, which results in Gus going off and making words that cause bad things to happen. At an intersection, Gus writes a bunch of contradicting traffic instructions, which results in a car crash. He then writes directions for planes, which causes them to get lost. Each time he does something bad, Sam pleads for Gus to stop, but Gus doesn't care. When he plays a prank on a hot dog store owner, the owner gets mad and traps Gus in a jar. The hot dog man puts Gus in his car and begins driving, but his car gets stuck on railroad tracks with a train coming. Sam breaks the jar that Gus is in and Gus writes with word "stop" many times, and the train stops. Everyone is amazed at what Gus did, but Sam and Gus already left. Gus apologizes for doing the wrong things, and Sam agrees that they can be friends again. I enjoyed this book, though I think I liked the illustrations more than the story. Each page is covered in dark blues and blacks and yellows, which gives the whole book a wonderful night-time vibe. Parts of the story were very funny, and I think kids would like that. I think this book is a great choice for a bedtime story since it takes place at night, and has a great message for kids. ( )

I love the story line of this book. The message that it teaches should be heard by all students. ( )

sam (owl) and gus (firefly) go around at night. gus plays bad tricks on people because they can see the words he writes in the sky with his light at night. eventually gus gets caught and a man puts him in his car. the car gets stuck on train tracks and gus gets set free and writes to the train to stop.
1 book

Fun cautionary fable of a firefly who learns to write words and uses his new skill to wield power and wreak havoc, until he has a chance to use his power for good. Then he comes to his senses and the owl and the firefly are friends ever after.

(Read in The Big Red Book of Beginner Books.) ( )