About this item
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 Saxbys 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 dont know why he swallowed the krill --- Itll make him ill." The sailors 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 Allens 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.
About the Author
I was born in Melbourne, grew up in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Papua New Guinea. No less than eight schools across three education systems had the pleasure of contributing to my learning. I have four brothers and three sons. I spent several years living on a sheep and wheat farm, surrounded by sheep, pigs, hens, dogs, cats, mice, birds, the odd snake or three and more than one variety of spider. I now live in a house that has been home to fish, guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets, hens and dogs. I have been writing for children since 1998. Before that I wrote adult short stories (badly) and poetry (published throughout Australia) . When I began writing for children, I felt I'd come home. I now write full time, conduct author visits and run workshops in schools throughout Australia.
