Shoo, Fly Guy! (Fly Guy #3): Volume 3

All the Fly Guy books have become extremely popular during bedtime reading in our house. Both my 5 and 6 year old love them. They are all very funny. I would recommend you buy all three books and read them in order. The first book introduces the two characters (Fly Guy and Buzz) and explains how they became friends. They were our favorite books until we bought The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend, which is our current favorite.

It has been a constant struggle getting my 6 year old to read. She says the books at her reading level are boring. She picked up this book and now she reads it all of the time. It is the only book she enjoys reading by herself.

Shoo Fly guy is a cute little story about a boy and his pet fly. The boy goes on a picnic and the fly tries to find him. My daughter liked following his fly patterns and the stuff he visits. I was a little concerned about one incident where he goes by a road kill frog. But she is fascinated by death for some reason(we lost a cat) so it didn't bother her. On thing she did like is where the author describes the last effort and draws a random fly pattern that involves saying "and on" 30 times. Overall a fun read!

The Fly Guy books have been great for my daughter. She is mildly autistic, so her reading level is around kindergarten even though she is in third grade. She often feels that the books at her level are babyish or boring. Fly Guy is funny and disgusting and very appealing to her. She also likes the idea of reading a real "chapter book". This book especially makes good use of repeating somewhat difficult words in the same phrases, so she can read faster as the book goes on. Thanks Tedd Arnold, and please write many more!

The parent that walks into the children's room of the public library for the first time since they themselves were children is always easy to spot. Their steps are halting and every quaking cell of their body indicates that this is the last place they could ever want to willingly be. Such parents are usually at home in bookstores were they fall into the familiar pattern of buy/sell. Libraries, to them, represent scary places where the regular rules don't apply. Few items are ever in pristine store-like condition. The employees are better informed than some of their bookstore brethren and instill a kind of primal fear in anyone who has had to suffer at the hands of a cruel children's librarian in the past. So as I sit at my small but supposedly imposing Reference Desk and watch such patrons approach me, I like to speak softly to them and maintain gentle eye-contact. "Uh... my child has just started reading and I... uh... I wondered if you had a section..." At this point in the proceedings the patron usually trails off and starts examining the Captain Underpants poster behind my desk like it's the most fascinating bit of advertising they've ever had the opportunity to examine. Keeping my voice low and calm I guide the reluctant patron to our easy reader section. I'm just about to leave them there too when the parent suddenly remembers that they know nothing about children's books aside from the occasional Dr. Seuss they themselves read when young. They want recommendations and as you begin to show them a couple books it becomes clear that they are still trapped in the Newer Is Better mindset. At this moment, the librarian has what may be their one and only chance to rope the patron into checking out a book that will win over both them AND their children in one fell swoop. Lose them now and you may never see that parent darken your children's room doorway again. Enter Tedd Arnold to the rescue. His books are brand spanking new, satisfying those patrons for whom anything older than 3 years is bupkiss. His books are funny, thereby guaranteeing that new child readers will want to hear his stories over and over. And his books have simple words and lots of pictures for those kids just starting to read on their own. And so, by telling you this regular event in my average workday, I introduce you to Tedd Arnold's fabulous follow-up to his award winning, "Hi, Fly Guy!". In "Shoo, Fly Guy!" our ever-buzzin' hero is back and he's hitting the town in search of the ultimate meal. Life is good for Fly Guy and his child owner, Buzz. Buzz treats Fly Guy quite well, offering him fun, a house, and delicious "brown, oozy, lumpy, and smelly" food. One day Fly Guy goes for a quick flight and when he returns home finds a note saying that Buzz has gone on a picnic. While in search of his elusive boy, Fly Guy becomes a tad hungry and a variety of meals present themselves to him. The first isn't oozy, lumpy, or smelly but it is brown so he goe