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I hate to do this to an author, but I’m giving this a negative review. This was poorly written and poorly drawn. I like the idea of this little picture book a lot, but it might need to be rethought.

The artwork is almost nonexistent, and what is there is rudimentary.

The character loves nature and wants to keep it in jars to enjoy. In doing so, nature dies: fireflies, flower, snowflake, etc.

The character is called Monster and is drawn to look like a friendly dinosaur? I’m actually not clear on what kind of monster it’s supposed to be. Is it called Monster because he or she tries to tame nature, thus killing it? I don’t want to read so much into it, but it makes little sense. Children are smarter than this. Why call it Monster? Maybe just make it a boy or girl and give it a name so a child can at least identify it as a human. I think a two- or three-year-old in a targeted readership could at least understand a child better than a generic Monster that looks, well, not scary enough to be called Monster. Or just give the “monster” itself a name. I just don’t understand the odd naming.

I understand the idea of the story, and it would be fine if not for the character used and the clunky writing. One thing that would pull me out of telling this to a child is a line when he goes to gets fireflies: “One night before supper on a warm summer day...” Night usually comes after supper, and day is during the day. I’m sorry but this just wasn’t put together well, and as someone reading it to a child, I’d stumble over that to figure out what I was trying to read.

As I said, this is a good idea for a board book or picture book for a baby or toddler. It just feels like the first draft of an idea that needs to be edited and rethought.

Love the story, but the illustrations turn me off to the book....maybe more professional illustrations would help?

The concept of ‘letting things be’ and enjoying nature as it was intended is brilliant for the “littles”. Such a pleasant read.

Absolutely adorable. I tested this one out my grandson, who is 2 years old. He loves this story. The artwork is just beautiful with gorgeous colors and the character, Monster, is fun and interesting to little ones! Highly recommend this for library story times about nature or the seasons. A wonderful read aloud.

In Catching Fireflies we follow a friendly little monster that loves nature and just wants to be constantly surrounded in it. The aspect of collecting and wanting to obtain things relative to a favourite item or concept (in this case, nature) is understandable and relatable for many. This book serves as a tender reminder of the importance of respecting something you love. Here, the audience learns that whilst we may appreciate nature and its glorious beauty, it is better to admire it in its natural state so that it can thrive and that others may also enjoy it.

The illustrations are cute with vibrant colours. Due to the simplicity of the art and story, I feel like this book suits a younger audience (of about 4 years or so). However, I feel like the story may have benefitted more if the moment of realisation was elaborated a bit more.

Overall, this was a delightful quick read about loving and respecting nature.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for gifting me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This story was cute, but I felt like it needed a little bit more. I like the idea of it and think it’s important to get children to understand that they should love and respect nature. I just think that the story was too quick and could have benefitted from a few more pages explaining that concept. Monster was adorable though and I enjoyed the story overall.

Adorable story about Little Monster, who loves nature so much that he wants to collect parts of it in jars to keep forever. Little Monster soon learns that living things belong in nature so that they can remain beautiful.

This will be the perfect addition to my preschool curriculum for our nature unit. So often, the kids want to pick the flowers, or keep the worms, and I’m looking forward to sharing this book with them to teach that nature is best observed where it belongs!

Illustrations are adorable, language is easily understood, and the story is short enough to to keep attention.

I received an advance copy of this book to me in exchange for an honest review

I think this book was written just for me. One of my biggest pet peeves is kids messing with animals catching toads and turtles to keep them in a bucket why???? Back to the book in such a sweet simple way it explains exactly why we shouldn't do this. I wish I had a whole shelf of books just like this!

This children's book was very simple. Almost a little too simple. I think the artwork should be a bit better if the book is going to be so short with very little "lessons" built in. The overarching lesson was to enjoy nature and be in the moment, which was nice but I think it needed to be elaborated on a bit more. I would still recommend this for VERY young readers.

This book was cute and I like the lesson of enjoying nature where it belongs. I didn’t love the illustrations. They were too simple for me. However, my 4 year old didn’t mind the illustrations and she liked having a monster as the main character.

The title caught my eye and reminded me of being young. This is a sweet story about learning to enjoy nature in the moment.

Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for sending me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Catching fireflies is a cute book about a monster who loves nature. Monster tries to bottle nature so he can always see it. However, things do not remain the same. Changes in nature, as well as in ourselves, is inevitable. Monster learns that it may be best to leave nature outside where it is meant to be.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Catching Fireflies by Celina and Leo Lagnado is a cute book that teaches kids the concepts of admiring nature without claiming ownership and is in line with the "take only pictures" adage often taught to young campers. There's not much to this storybook for young readers, but it gets the message across and the pictures are cute. The friendly monster is sure to engage the young audience.
Many thanks to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Lovely illustrations and a cute story. I liked the simplicity of it. I can imagine my nursery class enjoying the story and it could lead to a discussion about decay and life cycles.

'Catching Fireflies' is a sweet and simple book about enjoying nature while not needing to collect or disturb it. The illustrations are cute and colorful and the sentences short and easy to understand. This book would be best for very young readers to teach them about enjoying nature.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

Sweet little book about enjoying outdoors and nature. And the monster in the book is not one bit scary! This would be a cozy, short read with a wee one.

Catching Fireflies is a beautiful, heartwarming story about appreciating nature-- and further, other beings-- as they are. It's perfect for starting dialogues with little ones who are starting to become possessive and obsessive of things they like.

Catching Fireflies is a cute little story about a monster who wants to keep souvenirs from nature, but learns that nature is best left and appreciated where it belongs, rather than kept in jars.

This is a great story for kids to introduce them to the concept of conservation. It reminds me of the Scouts motto of take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.

The illustrations are cute, but inconsistent in quality. Some pages have beautifully rendered textures, while others look like they were completed quickly in MS Paint. The colours are bright and fun, and I don't think the target age audience will mind those differences. That's just the artist in me nit-picking!

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

This is a children's book. It is short and perfect for someone to read to toddlers. This book is all about a monster that loves nature because of his love of nature he tries to put it in jars. This book teaches kids about nature. It also made me think about catching lighting bugs when I was a kid, and putting them in a jar. Of course made me release them before I went into the house. I think this book has cute pictures that toddlers will love, and I love the underline massage in this book. This book also makes monsters less scary. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (BooksGoSocial) or author (Celina Lagnado) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review , and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

A cute story about a little monster and his love for nature and his journey to enjoy it in the outdoors.