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There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (Book)
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly is originally a folk song of oral tradition first heard in the United States in the 1940's is recreated by countless illustrators into original picture books, it's true author remains unknown. Published hardcover in September 1, 1997 by Viking Press for Young Reader, it was Simms Taback's artwork that gained him recognition for his interpretation of the old folklore thus earning a 1998 Caldecott Honor for distinguished American children's picture books. In 2002 Tom Chapin won the grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for his read along rendition of The Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly.

Plot
The song's lyric and illustrations follow an old lady who swallows small insects then progressively larger animals, all while the lyrics insist that the Old Lady swallowed the animal to catch the previous one and ending with I don't know why she swallowed a fly, perhaps she'll die. In a 2000 interview with Taback, he talks about his idea for collage art for There Was An Old Lady, it was his first of a few collage books that he would later work on. After every animal the Old Lady swallowed, the page depicts a hole through the increasingly bloating Old Lady's stomach so the reader can see in detail what exactly is inside the her. Taback's hope was that the reader would discover something new with every read.

Description
Cover art of the book reflects much about what goes on inside the book with black backgrounds and brightly colored words and pictures of the Old Lady and animals to be devoured. The text is hand written, cut and pasted in collages throughout the book. Informative and factual varieties of birds, dogs and flies decorate pages of the book along with witty comments from the animals who witness the gluttonous affair. One page includes various products dairy products produced by the cow that the Old Lady mindlessly swallows. Printed Hardcover, the book measures 10.3 x 0.3 x 8.3 inches. Animals swallowed (and their descriptions)

Fly – "I don't know why She swallowed a fly, perhaps she'll die." Spider – "That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her." Bird – "How absurd." Cat – "Imagine that." Dog – "What a hog." Goat – "She just opened her throat." Cow – "I don't know how." Horse – "She died, of course."

Critical Reception
Publishers Weekly calls Taback's work an "ingenious take on the cumulative tale, there's a die-cut hole where the old lady's stomach should be, so the audience can see where everything she swallows ends up. What's more, the hole grows bigger to accommodate the increasing gastro-population by the tale's end, it's the size and shape of the horse that causes her demise." School Library Journal PreS-Gr 3--From cover to moral (never swallow a horse), this cleverly illustrated version of an old folk favorite will delight children. The text has the look of a ransom note (a touch the devoured creatures might appreciate), but the jaunty colors—set skipping by a judicious use of black—keep the dark side of the poem at bay. - Kirkus review

References