While Grandma and Grandpa were visiting last week, Larrabee pulled an old favorite off the bookshelf: Sam and the Firefly by P.D. Eastman.

It’s an early reader, first published in 1958, about an owl (Sam) and a firefly (Gus) who become nocturnal playmates and friends. It was one of my brother’s favorite read-aloud books and one of my boys’ frequent choices as well.

This time Larrabee read it to Grandma. I’m not sure he remembered it. But all of the adults sure did. Mom, Dad, Mark, and I could recite whole pages by heart. “Look out!” we used to say. “The Hot Dog Man is MAD!”

As a read-aloud, this book is a good one for talking about words–and about the difference between bad tricks and good tricks. It also makes a good early reader because it tells a long, satisfying story with simple words and lots of pictures.

Larrabee mainly reads longer books now, but I’m glad we still have a chance to revisit some old favorites every now and then.