There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout! [Hardcover]

Teri Sloat (Author), Reynold Ruffins (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Everyone has heard of the old lady who swallowed a fly, but there is something particularly fishy about this old lady...

Eye-popping paintings capture the scenery and wildlife of the Pacific Northwest in this energetic recasting of a favorite children's rhyme. The buoyant text bobs along as the old lady swallows a salmon, an otter, a seal, a walrus ... until eventually she swallows the entire sea and the trout swims free! This pure flight of fancy gives a fresh twist to a familiar song.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sloat (Sody Sallyratus) sets the cumulative chestnut about the voracious old lady in the Pacific Northwest, and endows her with an endless appetite for aquatic wildlife. The heroine starts her meal with a trout "that splished and splashed and thrashed about./ It wanted out!" A cast of characters highlighted in similarly simple but satisfying rhymes follows, as Sloat puts the lady through her paces. The verse culminates in the woman gulping and regurgitating the entire ocean. Ruffins's (Running the Road to ABC) vision of the title character is an earth mother clad in a colorful costume that, on one spread, echoes the hues of a hilltop totem pole. His ebullient paintings of coastal scenes both above and below the water wittily show off the old lady's expanding physique. The naif perspectives, redolent with marine colors and textures, capture both the lyricism and cheery humor of the rhyme. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-"There was an old lady who swallowed a trout that splished and splashed and thrashed about. It wanted out!" So begins this cumulative rhyme based upon the tried-and-true nonsense verse "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." Sloat's version has a Pacific Northwest setting; a salmon, otter, seal, porpoise, walrus, whale, and an ocean are also consumed. The verse concludes with the woman opening her mouth, freeing the ocean and the various creatures she has ingested. Ruffins's colorful illustrations reflect both the zaniness of the rhyme and the coastal locale. The fact that the old lady survives her gastronomical ordeal might play better with sensitive members of the preschool set than the original version in which she perishes after downing a horse. While trying to rhyme porpoise with purpose seems forced, the verse as a whole will sound quite lyrical if read aloud. Storytellers may want to pair this with Simms Taback's There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Viking, 1997), a strikingly fresh version of the old standby.
Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition, Second Printing edition (October 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805042946
• ISBN-13: 978-0805042948
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #681,119 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book no primary room or library should be without!, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout! (Hardcover)

Teri Sloat offers a delightful twist to the old familiar lady who swallows the fly. I really think I prefer this version, as with young children I always change "perhaps she'll die" to "it made her cry" or "it makes me cry." In this story, the sea creatures are swallowed one by one and each phrase ends with "he wanted out!" The children catch on and repeat the last line or so and enjoy splishing, splashing and thrashing like the trout. The illustrations are beautiful and the children are thoroughly amused with both the pictures and the words. I LOVE THIS BOOK! You will, too!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The old lady, Northwest-style, October 14, 2004

By 

bensmomma "bensmomma" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout! (Hardcover)

Just about every pre-schooler knows the story and song, "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly;" here's a colorful aquatic version of that story, about an old lady who swallowed in rhymed sequence (among other things) a trout, a salmon, an otter, a porpoise ("she did it on purpose, she swallowed a porpoise!"), a whale, and at last the whole ocean.

Kids will love this twist on their traditional favorite; they'll love the vibrant and exuberantly colored illustrations even more. (You've really got to use the "look inside the book" feature above to get a sense of how wonderfully this book is designed.)

In contrast to the original old lady, who swallowed a horse and then quickly died (!), our intrepid trout-swallower eventually lets her menagerie back out to swim another day. A happy book with a happy ending; highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Pacific Northwest does wonders for this old rhyme!, June 28, 2000

By 

Ann M. Huebner (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout! (Hardcover)

I'm not a big fan of the song/rhyme "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly", but I do like this quirky book. The old woman is now an old lady, and she no longer swallows flies, cats, and dogs. Instead, she swallows, trout, salmon, otters, and other animals indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. She no longer dies, either--although she does become dangerously large after swallowing the ocean. This book is a lot of fun. The change of venue does wonders for the old rhyme, and Reynold Ruffins' colorful, folk-artsy illustrations are a pleasure. Sure, it's a cross-cultural gimmick, but it works. My two-year-old and I love singing this book together.