Commentaire descriptif

Many children will be familiar with the old lady who swallows a fly—and then swallows successively larger animals to deal with the problem. The pleasures of repetition, humour and surprise in the language are, of course, still fully present in this version. Even the very youngest children may be invited to recite the order of steadily increasing animals in the lady’s stomach: “She swallowed the bird to catch the spider. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don’t know why she swallowed the fly.” The illustrations are fun and stimulating, combining a folk-art sensibility with cartooning. The old lady’s gray curls spring from under her flowered hat. Animals are introduced in substantial settings, offering engaging back stories: the cat prowls city streets at night; the cow ruminates among flowers (and cheese, and low-fat milk). The lady’s stomach is die-cut, so as young readers turn pages, its contents change. Finally, the language offers asides on the original story that are an absolute delight: “I’d rather have ham on rye.” “She did it in one try” and “she had a frog on the sly.” For sheer exuberant fun with language and image, this book is a must for any library.