book for making text to self and text to text connections. Children can make connections to " The Relatives Came" story. Compare and contrast the two stories. 1st-3rd grade.

I tried to research what the relation is between Ernest and Patricia Polacco, but no matter how hard I searched, I cannot find it. The writing style is similar to that of Patricia, and the illustrations are done by her in her familiar style. The story is the celebration of family, and doesn't really have a plot, the protagonist doesn't go through some huge change, it's merely recounting the events of their family reunion. ( )

'When Lightning Comes in a Jar' will take you back to the simple days, when family reunions were filled with games and stories. You'll want to sit on the porch and read this book to your kids while thinking about your early days. Treasure your family; take the time to spend with them, to share stories with them, to catch lightning in a jar with them.

The story of a family reunion is told in the past by Trisha. There is a lot of jello and meatloaf as well as croquet and baseball games at the reunion. There are also many grandparents and great aunts and uncles telling stories of their youth to their grandchildren. When the sun goes down, they catch lightning bugs in jars. Now in the present, Trisha says how this year will also have jello and meatloaf, croquet and baseball games, except she'll be telling the new generation of the family the stories. The family importance and keeping their memories and traditions still going is the theme of this story. ( )

I set the goal of reading all of Polacco's books by the end of 2014. This one is a simple tale of the wonderment of a family reunion. The joyous images of laughter, sharing stories, playing games and delighting in the sheer wonderment of being together, made me smile!

What a very talented author and illustrator who can make a simple thing like catching fireflies a special occasion. ( )