Read-Aloud Raves: Leo the Lightning Bug

Remember the old audio books we grew up with? You plugged in your cassette tape and heard the chimes to turn the page in your storybook? I loved those books! And my kids have eagerly taken on the addiction.

To be honest, though, I didn’t realize this was an audio book until I got it home. I noticed it had an award sticker on it (always a heads-up that it’s probably a really good book), and I quickly read the jacket flap to get the gist of the story. Then, I threw it in my library bag and moved along.

Leo the Lightning Bug is perhaps the cutest audio story I’ve heard in awhile, performed by several voice talents. A particularly adorable lightning bug is discouraged that he is the only one among his friends whose light won’t light up. His mother gives him the age-old advice of “time and practice,” which little Leo takes to heart. He tries and tries and tries, even through a thunder storm. Then, after crack of thunder, a brilliant flash of light streaks across the sky and Leo thinks he’s done it! That boost of confidence is just what he needs to really do it the next time. Time and practice, and little Leo doesn’t feel so little anymore.

It’s a story I didn’t mind hearing over and over again. Because, as with any good library book, we did hear it over and over and over again.

What story did you hear repeated this week?