Jared Lee

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly! is a silly, energetic story told by Lucille Colandro’s playful storytelling and Jared Lee’s humorous, expressive illustrations. Kids love the escalating absurdity as the old lady swallows bigger and stranger animals, and the rhythmic repetition makes it perfect for read‑alouds. Lee’s cartoon‑style art adds extra laughs, turning each page into a moment of anticipation. This kind of book is enjoyed by younger children, but I would likely show more choose a book of higher literary quality for a classroom. show less

For a tiny children's book this is cheesy fun. It's way beyond my age level but when it's donated, I read these. I've read another Black Lagoon book and they always draw me in such I get a tickle out of the title and exaggerations - I'm a huge Creature of the Black Lagoon fan so appreciate the cheesiness. This one's adorable, but looks like our main character has been tricked into becoming a bookworm. Illustrations are still dim on the color but it's playful and cute enough. There's silly show more jokes that are downright puns - such as making fun of the friend for which book they chose - which kids should get a kick out of. show less

The first part of the book, riffing on the traditional nursery rhyme about the old lady who swallows a fly, is so dull it lulls you into stop paying attention so it can pull off an almost-clever twist ending. Having finished the book, I then remembered it did the same thing to me twenty years ago when I first and last read it.

Note to self: read again in twenty years to be surprised again.

Side note: I'm am stunned to see that this is part of a series of twenty-three (23 !!?!?!?!!) books at show more this point. show less

I really like this book because the plot is exaggerated and shows the way a child would really think about things they may be nervous about or new to. The students in the story make up crazy stories about what will happen to them if they misbehave in the library. I also really like the illustrations in the story because they are detailed and help to tell the story. There are lots of details in each picture and there are also speech bubbles with sound effects that enhance the story. The main show more idea of this story is not to judge something before you actually experience it, because it may be very different than you make it out to be. show less