There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback

Penguin Books, Toronto, 1997.
Hardcover edition, 32 pages, ISBN 0-670-86939-2.

Simms Taback takes this classic folksong to another level, both in content and illustration. The old lady herself is portrayed against an orange backdrop, where die-cut holes expose the contents of her ever-growing stomach on one side, and the next animal to be eaten on the other. The opposing black page is relegated to alternating strips of colored text, and busy cutouts of artistic commentary on the featured animal. The book is jam-packed with hilarious rhyming asides and sight gags. Even the back cover is adorned with a prodigious fly collection, each neatly labeled. At the sad conclusion, the moral is so patently ridiculous, that most children won't dwell on the death factor.

This is a great storytime read or dramatic sing-a-long book. Asides can be verbalized or not. It can be performed with the book, or with a puppet or flannel board lady who has each animal added to her stomach in turn. A potential craft project would be to color and/or cut out characters for a paperbag old lady for children to perform with at home. On an individual basis, the book is especially enjoyable when examined closely to see all of the Taback's clever styling.

The rhyme's the thing for phonological awareness in this little gem, but print motivation is all over this book in captions, text strips, and asides in the sky.

Caldecott Honor Book 1998, ALA Notable Book 1998.