Customer Reviews

Shoo Fly!

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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My daughter is 5 and autistic. She has major bug phobias and panics when a fly is around. As you can imagine, that is often and there is no peace until the fly/bug is gone. After reading this book over and over, she is still afraid of bugs, but tells them to "shoo fly" and you can see she feels stronger with these words. There's no more panic or screaming. I am so glad to have found this book for her and what a relief for me too. She also laughs and thinks its funny. Love it!

As an Early Childhood Education major at Clemson University, I was given the task to review this book for my Children's Literature class. This picture book, written and illustrated by Iza Trapani, is a playful account of a song that everyone is familiar with, Shoo Fly. By the use of many characteristics such as language, illustrations, and overall appeal to young readers, Trapani has written a book that is very marketable for success. First of all, the language in Shoo Fly! is developed throughout the book as being like that of a "sing song" tone. The words are simple and can be easily comprehended. They also flow together being that they are written in a form of meter. An example of this is, "I think the coast is clear - no more buzzing in my ear." It is very important for a young reader to be able to easily grasp what is being presented in any book. North quotes Dorothy Butler in her article as saying, "If children are to love poetry later, they need to discover early the satisfaction, which comes from experiencing form in language." This holds true with Trapani's work because she captures the attention of the readers with her use of fluid language and the form in which she writes. Another facet of the book that allows for comprehension and peaked interest is the illustrations. Trapani uses very vivid colors to depict background scenes where the main character, a mouse, is bothered by a pesky fly that is plaguing him. The images have very soft color schemes and are rounded. These round images allow the reader to have a better grasp of the playful tone of the book. North states in her article that it has been proven that children who are introduced to books in their preschool years, the assumed audience for Shoo Fly!, have a greater advantage than those children who do not have such a literary background. In order to capture the attention of an age group such as that a book must be pleasing and of interest. Trapani succeeds in this manner with the way in which she presents her work. Most importantly, Shoo Fly! does indeed appeal to young readers. This book was taken to a community center and read to children of a preschool age. They enjoyed it and seemed to comprehend what was being said. As North cited, children need to be introduced to these literary works at a young age so that they can further their intellectual base as they get older. Books such as Trapani's help in this quest because in order to introduce the literature to children, such as preschoolers, you must first capture their attention. Through language, illustrations, and overall appeal, Iza Trapani has written a very successful book. She has picked out what appeals to children and elaborated on those areas throughout her work. Attention can be easily given to book that provides humor and effect to adults, but many things have to go into the process of gaining the interest of a child. Shoo Fly! Exemplifies Sue North's principles of introducing books at an early age will benefit the children later.

My 2 1/2-year-old daughter really likes this book. We've read it numerous times, and she doesn't get tired of it. All of the pages are written to the song "Shoo, Fly! Don't Bother Me." A fly is bothering the mouse, who tries everything from telling it to go away, to hiding from it, to spraying it with water. In the end, the mouse goes to bed exhausted. The pictures are funny and cute. My 6-year-old has fun "singing" the words to the book.

Any Book from Iza Trapani is enjoyable for children. She has taken classic children's songs and made them even more enjoyable. My granddaughters love this book. I purchased it for them when they were two. My nine year old granddaughter still likes it as well,although now she's reading for her younger sister who also loves it.

This is a beautifully illustrated book. My grandson loves to hear me read it and he loves to point out different things that he is learning. He is only two, and he always wants me to read to him. This is one of the first books he picks up every time.

My kids & I love this book! It's a very fun read or sing out loud book. It took me bit to be able to sing through all the pages, but once you do, it's one of those catchy ones that gets stuck in your head. The illustrations are cute/funny - my kids like to find the fly. I definitely recommend this one to all my mommy friends!

Bought this for my nephew and he loves it. 2 1/2 years old and was enchanted.

iza trapani is the best. she's got wonderful imagination. every page is beautifully painted to take little minds and hearts out of this world. my son loves and remembers all her rhyme books since he was 3.