BIBLIOGRAPHY
Taback, Simms. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. New York: Penguin Books, 1997. ISBN: 0670869392
PLOT SUMMARY
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, written and illustrated by Simms Taback, is an American folk poem that begins with an old lady swallowing a fly. None of the animal onlookers understand why she swallowed the fly and the refrain "I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she'll die." beings. The old lady swallows a spider to catch the fly, then a bird to catch the spider, cat to catch the bird, dog to catch the cat, cow to catch the dog, and finally a horse to catch the cow. The horse is too much for the old lady and she ends up dying. The moral of the story is "Never swallow a horse."
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, written and illustrated by Simms Taback, is an American folk poem that begins with an old lady swallowing a fly. None of the animal onlookers understand why she swallowed the fly and the refrain "I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Perhaps she'll die." beings. The old lady swallows a spider to catch the fly, then a bird to catch the spider, cat to catch the bird, dog to catch the cat, cow to catch the dog, and finally a horse to catch the cow. The horse is too much for the old lady and she ends up dying. The moral of the story is "Never swallow a horse."
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This cumulative tale, when read aloud, is extremely catchy and will have kids reading along with the repeated and rhyming phrases "I don't know why she swallowed the.... Perhaps she'll die." As an American folk poem that was first heard in the United States in the 1940's, there have been different versions told, but the original author is unknown. Taback does a great job of capturing an older than usual audience with his version of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by including witty comments from the animals in the story and humorous details to the illustrations.
The illustrations in this story are very bold, bright, and colorful and really are the highlight of this book. Taback uses a di-cut pages to show the reader each animal inside of the old lady's growing belly. The mixed media illustrations include lots of details that are worth looking for on each page. On the page where the old lady swallows the dog, for example, there are many different illustrations of dogs with their breed listed below. Also included in the collage are other objects people associate with dogs like dog bowls, bones, tags, signs and even an August calendar with "dog days" stamped across it and a National Enquirer headline that reads "Lady Wolfs Down Dog." There is a page that shows all different things that come from cows and the back cover lists 18 different types of flies along with an illustration. These unexpected additions to the story by the illustrations add to the appeal of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. When read aloud, kids will have a hard time resisting the playful text and captivatingly clever illustrations.
AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS
Caldecott Honor Book 2008
"This version of the well-known folk poem includes additional comments (in rhyme) by the soon-to-be-eaten animals as they witness the zany old lady devouring progressively bigger and bigger animals until she, "of course," perishes. Bold, colorful artwork includes childlike cartoon drawings, detailed collages for individual perusing, and clever die-cut holes for gastrological peeking." Horn Book (March, 1998)
"From cover to moral (never swallow a horse), this cleverly illustrated version of an old folk favorite will delight children. Each page is full of details and humorous asides, from the names of different types of birds, to a recipe for spider soup, to the rhyming asides from the spectating animals. As for the old lady, with her toothy grin and round bloodshot eyes, she looks wacky enough to go so far as to swallow a horse. A die-cut hole allows readers to see inside her belly, first the critters already devoured and, with the turn of the page, the new animal that will join the crowd in her ever-expanding stomach." School Library Journal (December 1997)
CONNECTIONS
Excerpt from from the DVD There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly narrated by Cyndi Lauper. http://www.simmstaback.com/Simms_Taback_Videos_-_There_Was_An_Old_Lady.html
Books that add on items:
The Napping House by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood ISBN: 0152014179
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon ISBN: 0140549056
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin by Lloyd Moss, illustrated by Marjorie Priceman ISBN: 0689835248
Book that subtracts items:
Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback ISBN: 0670878553
Printables of the old lady and everything that she swallows for a felt board or read aloud:
http://www.kizclub.com/storypatterns/swallowed.pdf (black and white)
http://www.kizclub.com/storypatterns/swallowed(C).pdf (color)
The moral in this story is obvious. When something goes wrong, don't try and fix it by doing something worse.
ReplyDeleteie; Ignor the little things in life that go wrong, and you won't end up in a worse mess.