Old Black Fly (An Owlet Book)

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Summary: Old Black Fly
Review: Great book! This is one of my kinder's favorite books. The rhyming and chanting are so enjoyable for the kids. While the fly is being chased through the house and through the alphabet, the children are hearing the sounds of our language. It's an excellent book to help develop phonemic awareness and early literacy skills. More than anything, it's just plain fun!

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Summary: Five "Swats" for Old Black Fly
Review: I teach high school, but I am also a storyteller, and I gobefore a lot of elementary-age kids. "Old Black Fly" is agreat book to do with them. They like the alphabetizing, the color, the great pictures by Stephen Gammell, and, especially, the repetition of "Shoo fly! Shoo fly! Shoo!" (A lot like the old folk song, "Shoo, Fly! Don't Bother Me!"). This book is a keeper, and if your kids or grandkids don't have it in their library, shame on you! Get it for them--TODAY!

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Summary: I know an old lady...
Review: It's like the germs are flying off the page. If human eyes had the ability to see the diseases that flies spread, then this book is a fairly good indication of what the world would look like. This is, in essence, an alphabet book. On each and every page the naughty little fly (looking more like a Searle creation than anything else) bother and annoys every woman, child, and beast that crosses its path. This is not your sweet little baby alphabet book. No, this is an alphabet book of their nightmares. And it's pretty darn good.

Stephen Gemmell's illustrations look as if one hundred and fifty flies sneezed a rainbow of colors onto the pages. Kind of a colorized "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" for the toddler set. The best use of this book would probably be to those children that have somehow failed to learn their alphabet and feel that they are too old for the everyday humdrum "baby" abc books you so often see on the market. Don't get me wrong. There is a real beauty to these paintings. The splatters and messes filling each page are a messy child's fantasy realm. Who wouldn't want to do all the wonderful horrible things this fly is capable of? The fly itself is shockingly realistic. Hairy and gross to the extreme. He isn't given any human qualities or emotions. This is a very realistic old black fly, and because of this, the things he's going to do are going to be a little disgusting. Don't miss the second to last SWAT in a two-page spread of exploding pink and brown cake. Says the illustrator about this story, "This is the first book of the rest of the books I'll illustrate". I, for one, hope it isn't his last.

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Summary: Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth
Review: My 2 year old is fascinated with this book. It's the first book she wants to read, and it holds her undivided attention. The illustrations are colorful and so whimsical. The story has lots of activity and movement, so she follows the fly on each page. I would highly recommend this book for toddlers.

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Summary: FUNNY
Review: My 2 year old loves this book. The illustrations are very unique -- images amongst paint spatterings. Each featured letter is in a bright colored bold print that stands out from the black print of the rest of the story. The phrase "Shoo fly! Shoo fly! Shooo." is repeated after every two sentences, which my 2 year old loves to say along with me. He also points out the featured letter on each page. I find the concept of this book humorous, even to adults. A few words of warning -- if you are looking for a "cute" "a is for apple" type of alphabet book, this is not it. The fly does meet its demise at the end of the story by being swatted and I would describe the illustrations as "artistic" as opposed to "cute".

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Summary: Old Black Fly by Jim Aylesworth
Review: This book is just plain fun to read -- over and over again! It was one of the first books that my toddler would actually sit and listen to, and now at 18 months he's an active participant -- searching for the old black fly on each page and giving him a playful SWAT! I definitely recommend purchasing this book in hardcover, as the soft binding is simply no match for its popularity.

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Summary: Below expectations
Review: This book is not very pleasing. The pictures are done in that "insane, stressed, spattered watercolour" style akin to the disturbing psycho comics out today. The book is disguised as an alphabet book, but it does not have a good rhyme to it - and the pictures are harsh and "messy". Finally, the fly who the child begins to identify with gets squashed in the end. Not the kind of book I want to read to my son. There are better books out there for the money.

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Summary: Old Black Fly
Review: This has been my daughter's favorite book since she was six months old. We read it "Motown Style" with lots of back beat. The rhythm is great and now, at ten months, she spends time looking at the pictures -- looking for the bad old fly, the baby, the cat and the dog. Even when I forgot the book on a trip, I was able to use the rhyme (and alphabet) to make up my own story about Old Black Fly. Buy it, you'll love it!

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Summary: One of my favorite alphabet books
Review: This is one of my favorite alphabet books. I am crazy for the splotchy, unsentimental illustrations. Check out the pucker-faced grandma, the piano-legged sister, and the befuddled haystack of a dog. (If you like them, you might also want to check out WILL'S MAMMOTH by Rafe Martin. Stephen Gammell illustrated it too. Good stuff.) I am also crazy for the ending. Who knew an alphabet book could have a really clever ending? My son (almost three) loves this book as much as I do. We read it over and over again. One note of caution: Even though this is an alphabet book, it's probably not the first alphabet book you want to buy your child. The letters are embedded in the text, and the text and illustrations are far too distracting for this book to be used to actually teach the alphabet. As a reinforcement, however, this book can't be beat.

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Summary: FUNNY
Review: This was one of my kids favorite books. In fact, in our book club we always bring books to the expectant mother and this is always my first choice. It works for both genders and is VERY entertaining. Perfect addition to any kids library.