Old Black Fly

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 Gammell'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.

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.

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!

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!

This is one of my girls' favorite books. They like the rhythm and the splatter illustrations. I like the fact that the main character is a bit of an antihero -- a dirty, annoying fly. The ending is not surprising but quite amusing.