A Review of There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a fly

By Simms Taback

Note: This blog fulfills a requirement for a course at TWU.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Taback, Simms. There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. Illustrated by Pam Adams. Child's Play International (June 2003). ISBN: 0859531341

PLOT SUMMARY

This book is a humorous tale about an old lady who swallows a fly, a spider, a bird, a cat, a dog, and a cow based on an anonymous folk song. There is a die-cut hole where the old lady’s stomach should be that allows the reader to see each animal or insect inside the ever-expanding stomach. Every time the old lady appears, if the book is tilted one way, the reader sees the most recent animal or insect she swallows, if the book is tilted the other way; the reader can see the accumulation of all that she has swallowed. The animals/insects float in a space that matches the old lady’s dress. There are humorous newspaper headlines that read things like, “Lady Wolfs Down Dog” and offers a recipe for “Spider’s Soup”. Her reasoning behind swallowing all of the animals/insects is that once she had swallowed the fly, she swallowed the spider to get the fly, the bird to get the spider, the cat to get the bird, the dog to get the cat and the cow to get the dog. Her demise finally comes when she attempts to swallow the horse.

CRITICAL REVIEW

The book is wonderfully, albeit humorously, illustrated by Pam Adams and the illustrations allow children to see the inside of the old lady’s stomach as she devours each animal or insect, The rhymes add to the flavor of the story and the illustrations of the old lady make the reader believe that this old lady is crazy enough to actually swallow all of the creatures. The old lady’s dress combines with the inside of her stomach and the handwritten text add to the allure of this humorous story. “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don’t know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she’ll die.” This book is a wonderful opportunity to help parents and teachers to develop a child’s imagination. It is also a teaching tool, which shows different species of birds, flies, dogs, etc. with factual information that are labeled correctly.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Caldecott Honor Award Medal 

School Library Journal – From cover to moral (never swallow a horse), this cleverly illustrated version of an old folk favorite will delight children. This illustrator provides an eye-catching, energy-filled interpretation that could easily become s classic in itself.”

Publishers Weekly – “Children of all ages will joyfully swallow this book whole. All ages. The gleefully dizzy mood is intensified by Taback’s use of black hand-lettered words set in blocks of bright colors laid atop orange or black backgrounds, and occasionally sprinkled with collage images.”

The New York Times – A towering masterwork in the field is the anonymous folk song and it is my happy duty to announce that it has just been reverently reverberated by the appearance of an excellent book which present the lyrics in their classic form’”

CONNECTIONS

Read other Simms Taback’s works:

Taback, Simms. This is the House that Jack Built. ISBN: 0142402001

Taback, Simms. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. ISBN: 0670878553

Taback, Simms. I Miss You Every Day. ISBN: 0670061921

Taback, Simms. Farm Animals. ISBN: 1609050789

Ø  A great book for expanding a child’s imagination.