Flash!

A gorgeously illustrated picture book biography about John Bonner Buck: from his childhood curiosity about why fireflies flash to the consequential discoveries he made as a scientist.

When John Bonner Buck was a boy, he'd lie on the grass in his backyard and wait for the fireflies. First, one pinprick of light would appear and then another. Soon the entire sky sparkled with fireflies. Why do fireflies flash? John wondered. 

John always had a curiosity about the natural world. Each fall, he'd scan the skies for migrating geese. In the chill of winter, he'd write poems about woodchuck burrows. In the spring, he'd follow butterflies, awed by their symmetry. But every summer, the fireflies would appear again and again. John wondered, why do they flash?

He would spend his entire life as a scientist pursuing the answer to that question. Solving the mystery would take him across the globe: to the jungles of Thailand and the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. Before long, John knew more about fireflies than anyone else on the planet. His research led to the development of groundbreaking technology to treat epilepsy, Parkinson's Disease and cancer. His research even inspired a sensor to detect alien life.

Laura Ramos's lush artwork offers a visual feast for nature lovers and  Heidi King's lyrical text pays wonderful homage to a pioneering scientist and the fireflies who helped light his way.