There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

1. Bibliography

Taback, Simms, Trans. 1997. THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY. Ill. by Simms Taback. New York: Penguin Books USA Inc.    ISBN:  978-0670869398

2. Plot Summary

This wonderful folk poem originated in America with different versions from a handful of states. The original author is unknown and Taback has taken hold of this story and put a true touch and brand on it. THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY is a story about an old woman who at first swallows a fly and continues to eat other animals to get the fly. The old lady grows and grows as the pages are turned and the cutouts in the middle of the pages slowly reveal all the animals that have been swallowed. No one knows why she eats the fly, but the old lady keeps on eating animals until she finally swallows a horse and dies!

3. Critical Analysis

This singsong poem has a wonderfully repetitive rhythm that gives the story in a linear pattern traveling from one animal being swallowed to the next. An example of this is after the old lady swallows a bird the phrase goes “There was an old lady who swallowed a bird. How absurd, to swallow a bird! She swallowed the bird to catch the spider.” This method is repeated with each additional animal. Taback also adds comments from the other animals about what she just swallowed. When the old lady first swallows the fly, the cat, dog, bird, and cow all pitch in saying “But it’s only a fly.” “She gulped it out of the sky.” And there is even a bit of foreshadowing here because written in the background in giant letters it says “Perhaps she’ll die.” There are colorful and funny illustrations throughout the book and even with the demise of the main character these illustrations give a light heartedness to the story and make the death of the main character comical.

4. Review Excerpts

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL review: “All in all, this illustrator provides an eye catching, energy filled, interpretation that could easily become a classic in itself.”

BOOKLIST: “The funky art and the terrific humor are a winning combination.”

5. Connections

This story can be enjoyed without the book and is a poem that can be remembered and shared orally on the playground or around the home.

Childs Play International, THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY. ISBN: 978-1904550624

Colandro, Lucille. THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED SOME SNOW. ISBN: 978-0439567039

Arnold, Tedd. THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED FLY GUY. ISBN: 978-0439639064