This playful, rhyming picture book offers a fresh and fun new take on
the song "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." In Claire Saxby's
telling, a white-bearded, big-bellied sailor sets things in motion by
swallowing a krill. He then goes on to swallow progressively larger sea
creatures, each meant to catch the preceding one. Every new introduction
is followed by a retelling of all the previously eaten animals, and "I
don't know why he swallowed the krill --- It'll make him ill." The
sailor's tale finally ends when he swallows a whale, "then with a burp
... set sail." The burp allows all the other creatures to be released
out of his mouth and back into the sea, presenting the surprise of a
happier ending for the sailor than for the old lady in the song.The
story is perfectly complemented by Cassandra Allen's jaunty, simple and
playful illustrations, which provide a terrific source of visual clues
for pre-readers looking to recognize words. The rhyming and repetition
will make this a favorite read-aloud choice for storytime, as children
will happily participate in reading the repeated sections, which are so
easily and quickly memorized. In addition, there is a "Fishy Facts"
spread at the back of the book that contains a true fact about each
animal in the story (including "A blue whale can eat millions of krill a
day!"), which would make for a fantastic introduction to a discussion on
the size of sea creatures and the food chain.
