GENRE: STEM/STEAM, Informational Fiction
WORDS: 528
Query:
In my informational fiction, 540-word picture book for ages 3-6 years old, The Flashy Life of Pyralis the Firefly, you’ll find a familiar sight on a hot summer night. When fireflies flash their yellow lights, it’s showtime! Pyralis is personalized but not anthropomorphized in this scientifically accurate journey through the life cycle of a firefly.
Comparative titles include Candace Fleming’s HONEYBEE: THE BUSY LIFE OF APIS MELLIFERA (Neal Porter Books,2020) which follows the life cycle of the Honeybee who is personalized, similar to my story and Aimee M. Bissonette’s DRAGONFLY (Albert Whitman 2020) a life-cycle book similar to mine in that it’s told in first person.
I’m the author of more than 70 nonfiction children’s books with a special interest in STEAM topics. I frequently present at schools and conferences. I’m the Assistant Regional Advisor for the New Jersey SCBWI Chapter. I most recently partnered with the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America to publish the picture book Dancing with Granddad: An Alzheimer’s Story for Children and Their Families and Gardening with Grandma.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Excerpt:
On a rainy summer day, an egg,
woven in a mass of moss casts a faint glow.
Pyralis waits. Safe.
One week . . . two weeks . . . three weeks . . . four.
Trees shed their leaves signaling change.
The perfect time. Pyralis shimmies from her egg.
Now a larvae, dressed in her shell. It must be showtime, Pyralis thinks.
What inspired you to write this story & what do you have in common with it:
While you can find a handful of informational books about the life cycle of fireflies that include fun facts in the educational market, I was hard-pressed to find a trade picture book which inspired me to fill the void. Also, childhood memories of catching fireflies in my New Jersey backyard inspired me to write this story.
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