With Brood X emerging here in Maryland, it’s cicadas all day long. But this is not a cicada…this is a lightning bug. Or a firefly. I hear people have different names for them depending on where they live… I like to use both.
Like a cicada, lightning bugs are long and sleek and crunchy. Unlike cicadas, this one is made of paper and contains a haiku and a hand drawn map of my childhood farm. I call it Flight Pattern. 🙂
If you’re familiar with my horseshoe crab book, Our Blood Holds Secrets, you can see that I made the underwing map piece of this guy with the same mystery material (found in a closet at work) that I used for the book lungs of the crab. It’s sheer and weird and looks great with light shining through.
This book was a big hit with my kids. I can’t wait to catch lightning bugs with them this summer! 🙂
Jenny O'Grady 