Tiny Little Fly

A cross between Denise Fleming and Eric Carle, with somewhat softer colors. ?�Even though I love We're Going on a Bear Hunt and admire The Sad Book, I'm only now beginning to realize that Rosen writes a diverse variety of stories, and chooses different wonderful illustrators for each. ?áI must find more of his work. ?áThis is subversive, very funny, and terrific fun to read aloud. ?áShort, aimed at tots.

A rollicking rhythm and exuberant, large-scale illustrations make this a delightful addition to any storytime.

I read it quite a while ago and immediately added it to my order list. Then it got bumped off, then it got added on again...and so it goes. I finally ended up purchasing a copy last month and I've been trading it back and forth with Miss Pattie for use in toddler and preschool storytimes every since.

A tiny little fly, a plump black ink smear with big eyes, is zipping along, "My, oh my,/Tiny Little Fly!" he sees an elephant, takes a seat on the elephants trunk and "Great Big Elephant/winks one eye,/says to himself,/'I'm going to catch that fly!" but after some noisy tramping and crushing, away zips the fly.

Hippo and Tiger try as show more well, but just end up in a muddy mess on a huge fold-out spread and Tiny Little Fly swoops off on his way.

The ringing cadences of the rhymes and repetitive refrains make this a great story to read over and over again until your listeners can chant along with you. Michael Rosen (when he's not writing extremely depressing books for children about death) knows just how to catch a child's ear with his brisk text.

Waldron's art is bold and exuberant, with smashing elephant legs, rolling hippos, and swatting tigers. This book is appeals to sight and touch, with thick pages that look like brown recycled paper, swashes of browns and dabs of color, and background patterns faint enough to interest readers in looking color. Throughout it all, Tiny Little Fly athletically zips, avoiding every danger and coming out on top, despite her tiny size compared to the massive jungle creatures.

Verdict: I don't know how we survived without this book so long. How are you surviving without it? Go forth and purchase.

ISBN: 9780763646813; Published November 2010 by Candlewick Press; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library show less

I wish the cadence was better. The story was nice and simple, and would work really well at story time. What really makes the book stand out are the illustrations, which are soft but powerful and fun at the same time.

A tiny little fly lights on several African animals, provoking them to try to catch him. None of them succeed and off he flies.

A little masterpiece in its simple repetitive text and oversized pictures.

“My, oh my,
Tiny Little Fly!

Tiny Little Fly
says, ‘What’s this here?’

‘Great Big Hippo!’
And settles on his ear.

Great Big Hippo winks one eye, says
to himself, ‘I’m going to catch that fly!’”

Elephant, hippo, and tiger think they're going to catch tiny fly, but it's harder than it seems! Very cool, textured, almost vintage illustrations and one giant fold out page add to the fun.

Fly is landing on Elephant, Tiger and Hippo. They wink their eyes and try to swat at him but he keeps getting away.

I thought the book would be enjoyable for young children 2-5. It would be fun for children going to the zoo to learn a few more famous animals to see. The language is very repetitive and would probably not hold the interest of older children.

33 months - O is a bit old for this book now but she still enjoyed this one the couple times we read it. This could be a good baby signing book as well.