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the light that shined, they
felt a strange, growing pulse
coming from behind."
As the bright summer day begins to turn night, June Bug takes flight. He climbs the tall blades of grass and spots a light in the distance. As he flies to the light, he inadvertently hits a tree branch and crashes upon a lower one. He begins to study the bugs in his area. Soon, he joins other June bugs as they fly toward a streetlamp. One of his group is swiftly swallowed by a bat, but the others get away. The scene transitions to one of children also drawn to a light. This time it is the light of Jesus which they seek. Following this scene is a collection of scripture related to light.
Barron’s rhyming picture book is easy to read and filled with vibrant colors. The first two-thirds of the book creates an interesting guessing game for children where they are given clues about a particular bug and then attempt to guess what it is before the author/reader reveals the answer. Caregivers reading this to small children can use this opportunity to provide more clues to encourage the children to keep guessing, as the clues in the text are rather limited. The illustrations do a good job of relating the picture to the text. The rhyme, rhythm, and line breaks fluctuate often so that no clear scheme is evident. However, most readers won’t be too bothered by this as the book is clearly intended for children. Due to its subject matter, this story is ideal for a Christian school, home, or Sunday school setting. Teachers, parents, and caregivers will find this a nice read-aloud for young children.