Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
This fly is a lightweight, I'm sorry to say, November 22, 2007
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Length:: 2:50 Mins
The video review gives you basically the same material that is typed out below, giving you your choice of review format. I hope you enjoy the review, either way (or both ways, if you prefer).
Franklin is a fly that lives in the big city, likes trips to the country, worries about flypaper and getting swatted, and likes to do loop-de-loops. There is not a lot of story is this little book, that is more a set of captioned illustrations, than prose with accompanying illustrations. The book was written by a lifelong illustrator and animator, and the illustrations are stronger than the writing.
"Franklin the Fly" is described, on the dustjacket, as a book for all ages, but I am not sure, because of reasons stated below. I can imagine a parent or grandparent reading it along with a child, five and under, or a slightly older child reading it on his or her own, but I have trouble imagining an adolescent or adult enjoying the book. It is cute, but the lack of plot leaves it little more than pleasant fluff. "Franklin the Fly" has echoes of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", but those echoes are faint, at best.
When I obtained "Franklin the Fly", I was hoping that the hazards that Franklin faced would lead the book to be usable as a teaching tool for coping mechanisms and dealing with adversity, but there is not enough here to do that. The one thing it does do is to give a child the chance to experiment with understanding the perspective of another. In this book, humans are nothing more than potentially dangerous annoyances to the flies, which is close to a total reversal of the human perspective on flies.
There are two pieces of the story that bothered me, as relates to reading it to small children. If the child begins to identify with Franklin, who is a very engaging little fly, then the scene about the flypaper disaster, that befell Franklin's relatives, might be traumatic. Worse though, is the sequence where Franklin imagines that being a pig, goose, or chicken, might be worse than being a fly, because of the unexpected (to the animal) end for them, which is pictured fairly graphically, for a children's book.
This is a well-illustrated, nearly plotless book, that would benefit from more depth. The last page suggests that there will be sequels, and I hope that any sequels can explore the territory that this book leaves untouched.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Not-So-Kid-Friendly Look At The Life Of A Fly, November 28, 2007
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
"Franklin The Fly," by R.O. Blechman, is a bizarre little page turner. It's story is seemingly aimed at children under the age of eight, but it's illustrations are decidedly not for that demographic. This book, much like its title character, meanders from wholesome mediocrity to shocking reality with no real final destination in sight. When I began reading this tale, I was introduced to a not-so-likeable fly who tells the reader that he sometimes wishes he wasn't a fly. He highlights the pros and cons of being a bug. One of the cons, complete with a full page illustration, involves losing an entire fly family on flypaper. After this, however, Franklin quickly dismisses the longing to be something else with a vivid depiction of a butcher in a bloody apron wielding a knife. In short, he states that he'd rather be a fly than a delicious animal like a pig and eventually be eaten. With that visual firmly entrenched in a youngster's mind, Blechman takes a left turn and attempts to make Franklin a hero by having him distract a man trying to capture a butterfly.
In the end, the reader is left with quite a few questions. Is this story suitable for young children to read due to the graphic illustrations? Is Franklin likeable enough to really care about in the end? Can the illustrations, although well done, hold the attention of a young child? Doesn't the whole book feel disjointed? The list of questions could go on and on.
I personally didn't care for this book and feel that it isn't appropriate for children under the age of eight. The graphic depictions of a butcher and a flypaper massacre are too much for little ones to understand. The text is written at a level meant for third and fourth graders, but the story is too weak in my opinion to hold their attention. Overall, it's a children's book unfit for children. Two stars for the illustrations and one star for the story and title character. Not recommended.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
No Super Fly, December 10, 2007
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Although I loved the pictures
This is a warning verse
The imagery is not for kids
The story line is worse
Franklin is a city fly
The hero of this caper
So far he's managed to survive
The lure of the flypaper
He's happy just to be a fly
And not a pig or goose
Who live to eat - until they're fat
And end up served au jus
He flits around so aimlessly
Just like the story line
My son asked me whose book this was
I told him it was mine
The artwork is the only thing
That'll make you stop and look
If you like Blechman, this could be
A coffee table book
So if you have this book at home
Though it looks pretty mild
Save yourself the trouble and
Don't give it to your child
Amanda Richards, December 10, 2007
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