I have never seen a real firefly and neither has my daughter. I know, sad, right?  My husband saw them once in Belgium but that was it. I’ve always wanted to see fireflies since they always look so beautiful on television and in movies. After the huge sensation of the Butterfly Collection, Gemmy has now come out with the new My Pet Firefly.

In the glass jar, you will find a little firefly figure attached to a wire. When you tap on it, the firefly begins to mimic the movements of a real firefly. The pattern is random so sometimes it will just move a little and light up. Other times it will pop back and forth like crazy, each time clinking the inside of the jar. The lid easily twists off to change the batteries or turn the firefly off. The batteries are included, by the way.

At first I had a tough time just getting it out of the package. I didn’t see any instructions so I pulled the jar out and pried the attached button from the cardboard. I kept trying to push the black button and then tap the jar but it wouldn’t work right. That’s when I decided to turn the box over and, lo and behold, there were some directions in small print. This was kind of awkward and I would have liked just a small paper insert letting me know that I had to disconnect the wire before I got frustrated trying to work with it. Anyway, after I yanked that cord off we were ready to try it. While in the auto mode, my daughter tapped the jar and the firefly flew around.

It’s tough to describe exactly what My Pet Firefly does so let me show you:

It is cute for sure but does not look real at all. The wire is clearly seen from every angle and the wings only move because they are attached to the body. For me, the novelty wore off fairly quickly. For my daughter, though, she absolutely loves it. She immediately claimed it as her own and brought it to her room. Even several weeks later she still expresses her favor of it

I asked her why she liked My Pet Firefly so much and she said, ”It’s cute in the day because it has this cute little face with a big mouth and big eyes. The wings are cute because they have these little stars. And then, it’s so cute in the night because then it lights up and it’s bright enough to light up my room in the dark. It’s like a lantern, but real fireflies are not so bright.”

So there you go. This little ‘pet’ is not meant to pass as the real thing, which should be obvious by the large size, red-lipped grin, and star-bearing wings. Rather, it is meant to be a fun decoration in your child’s room to make them smile when they play with it. That is good enough for me.

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► Giveaway closed, winners announced here!
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WIN IT!
One reader will win their own My Pet Firefly.

To enter (mandatory):
Visit Gemmy’s My Pet Firefly and tell me which color firefly is your favorite.

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“#Win a My Pet Firefly that lights up and mimics the random movement of a real firefly, Ends 8/28 #giveaway http://bit.ly/nWBWUi”

Giveaway ends 8/28/11 at 11:59 PST. Open to US residents only. Winner has 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.