Never Alone & The First Lightning Bug

by Phillip Rhoades

I'd like to share a story about these stories with you. :)My sister and her daughter, my niece, were visiting the other day. My niece is about one year old, with cute chubby cheeks, and a quirky attitude. I was working on my Japanese language study when she wandered into my room carrying “Never Alone & The First Lightning Bug” (the children’s book I had recently published and had given copies of to my nieces and nephews for Christmas). She looked up at me, waved the blue and orange book around and said, “Book! Book!” which is her way of asking me to read to her. So of course I stopped my studies, pulled her up on to my lap, and read my stories to her. My sister says that she does this at home all the time too, which makes me super happy. I take it as a sign that I’ve crafted something children love.I’ve set the price of “Never Alone & The First Lightning Bug” to just $1.99 for the Amazon Kindle version, because I believe that once you have read it to your children they’ll ask for it again and again, after all my nieces and nephews sure do. The printed and bound “real book” version is more, because printing and binding is an expensive process, but you just might decide you want that printed version so your child can read these stories to your grandchildren some day.The minimalistic illustrations, while great for children, are sometimes met with less than the greatest enthusiasm by adults. That’s okay, I wrote and illustrated these stories for children. I’m the second oldest of seven children, my first jobs were babysitting my cousins and the kids down the street- I know what children like to read. I’ve been reading stories to and making up stories to tell children for most of my life. Kids in the one to five age range love minimalistic and uncluttered illustrations, these are the types of books they would pick out and bring to me again and again.In this book you will find two wonderful stories. The first is the story of a little boy named Alone, a little girl named Never and how they have a positive effect on each other. The other explores the origin of the lightning bug in a fanciful way (loosely based on ancient myths of the beginning of the world) that will appeal to children of all ages.

34 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2012

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book from an author that definitely knows what children like. My kids ask for this book again and again. It's easily worth the dollar for the digital version and completely a perfect investment for the printed version.

I've even purchased a few copies for my siblings and their kids.

I urge everyone with young children to check out this book.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

After spending five years developing these stories, I had finally refined both the minimalist artwork and stories into something that children love. Put this book in front of any child once and it will be a favorite they bring to you repeatedly.

[Alan Sparrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little book with two fun stories. I'd recommend this one to anyone that looking for something outside of the mainstream, but still clean and happy.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Where I found this indie: Reddit /r/childrensbooks

Poorly executed and insanely short. The minimalist drawings are terrible and as a graphic designer and artist it pains me to see such work. This entire book looks like it was made in 10 minutes. I actually feel terrible for paying $1 for it. The first story was very very bad, but the second had potential. If the author would have spent more time developing that Lightning bug story, and worked with an illustrator it wouldn't have been this bad. I strongly recommend avoiding this book, and to the author I apologize for seeming mean, but this should not be a piece of work you charge for.