I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly [Hardcover]

Glen Rounds (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

A cumulative folk song in which the solution proves worse than the predicament when an old lady swallows a fly.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

If a picture book were to be thought of as a short play, then the casting director for this book did a splendid job in this Hoosier variant of a familiar American folk song. However, the potential of these artfully conceived characters is, in part, wasted because this play appears to lack a director. The actors pose on blank white backgrounds generally staring with empty eyes, as if awaiting their fate. There are plenty of opportunities for the characters to act and react, but Rounds has not, in the main, chosen to explore them. The result is a lack of flow in the illustrations. The illustrations do artfully project Rounds' blackly humorous vision of the seedy, alienated inhabitants of this cumulative tale. With admirable sureness of line, he sketches his outlandish characters using bold black marker. He colors them with pastel crayon, creating a pleasing scrabble of ochre, earth tones, brick red, and denim blue. The wonderfully graphic fly who appears as an observer on every spread is one of the few elements that provides clear continuity from illustration to illustration. The "scrapbook" approach, which worked so effectively in Old MacDonald Had a Farm (Holiday, 1989), falls short here because it is not sufficiently dramatic for this cumulative tale which must build toward its well-known punch line. In spite of this rendition's limitations, the clean, simple layouts and the oversized bold typeface will attract young readers looking for an easy-to-read picture book. In addition, the amusing language play provided by the song and the offbeat humor of the drawings will make it a good bet for kindergarten and first-grade story hours. --Carey Ayres, Port Washington Public Library, NY
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

South Dakota author Glen Rounds was born on April 4, 1906 in a sod house in the Dakota Badlands. The rugged beauty of his birthplace and childhood would shape his art throughout his life.He grew up on a ranch in Montana, studied art at the Art Institute in Kansas City, spent one summer traveling with fellow student Jackson Pollock, and another summer traveling with his teacher, Thomas Hart Benton.His first book, Ol’ Paul, the Mighty Logger, was published in 1936. His Whitey series, about a young cowboy and his cousin, was published from 1941 to 1963. His view of the Old West and his ability to tell tall tales through his writing and illustration are universally admired.Mr. Rounds received more than 25 literary awards for his writing and illustrating including the Parents’ Choice Award, six Lewis Carroll Shelf awards, the New York Times Outstanding Book Award, and the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota.Mr. Rounds died at his home in North Carolina on September 27, 2002 at the age of 96.


Glen Rounds lives in Southern Pines, North Carolina with his new wife Betty and old dog Boomer. For well over 50 years, Round's drawings of people and animals have been somewhat "unconventional", to say the least.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House (March 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823408140
• ISBN-13: 978-0823408146
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,230,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Woman's Bad Diet Becomes A Favorite Song, November 16, 2006

By 

A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com "What should ... (Glen Ellyn, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Hardcover)

The great mystery of one woman's dietary adventure has intrigued children for generations. Although she has avoided the stronger points of both the South Beach and the Atkins diets, she did bring in a diverse meal plan with lots of protein with minimal carbs.

The woman described is not a pleasant, friendly woman, but one who is terribly overweight, and who apparently eats her pets as well as bugs. Look out Fido! Look out Fluffy!

It is the tale oft-told, and the rhymes will please the young one's ears. It is easy to remember, and so much fun that you may find yourself humming the tune. Like the classic folk story, "Stone Soup," the song builds with each retelling. First, she eats a fly, then a spider, then a bird. You get the idea. While her plan was not to eat any of these things, she does.

While the pictures are fun, it is the song we all love, and the one you and your family can sing on vacations, school busses. It works in rounds, or in groups. The children are sure to giggle through it, since funny vocal inflections beg to be employed.

I fully recommend "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." But, I must admit, I don't know why she swallowed the fly. Your guess what will happen to her is as good as mine.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

5.0 out of 5 stars For Fun, not for a life Lesson (sheesh!), July 21, 2006

By 

Tina Amberg (Colorado Springs, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Hardcover)

Precious, funny, and silly.

I loved this one when I was little... it is classic. I can still sing it today and laugh.

Ok sure she dies, but that is the problem today... people get too uptight when it comes to kids, they are too protected. To protect them from morbidity (as well as the numerous other things kids are OVER protected from today) makes a child who will not function well as they get older.

This is not a lesson on death, just a fun & silly song. To make it more then that is limiting yourself & children. Please folks relax... Have fun, laugh & live a little!

4.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps perhaps perhaps, March 13, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Hardcover)

Who knew the text of "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" belonged to the Hoosier Folklore Society? Not I said the .... you know. This is the classic song in which, "the solution proves worse than the predicament". In other words, the cure is worse than the disease. Here we have the supposed old lady (though I have my doubts considering her strong physique and lovely red hair) who has swallowed a fly. And whatta fly it is! This isn't your usual tiny crawling insect. On every other page we view a whopping magnificently HUGE fly, roughly the size of the old lady's head. Most of the creatures the old lady swallows to catch the previous animal are similarly horrific in some way. If your kids weren't afraid of spiders before this book, they will be now. And whatta hairy red-eyed sharp toothed bony kneed spider it is! This is followed next by the scariest chicken you ever did see (again red-eyed) and then a pupil-less (but nonetheless red-eyed) cat that stares off into space. You get the idea. The text is a little different from the versions of the song I remember from my own innocent youth. Instead of vaguely supposing, "perhaps she'll die" at the end of every line, this book comes to the absolute conclusion that "I guess she'll die". Seems logical. And sure enough the last page displays a blank tombstone with a single blue bottle containing three woebegotten red flowers sitting on the grass. Read this book well (or sing it) and the kids'll come screaming for more. But boy is that one creepy fly! If nothing else, this book will teach the kiddies the dangers of fly knoshing. Oog.