Review by Booklist Review
During a breezy journey, a wily fly alights on an elephant's toes, a hippo's ear, and a tiger's claw, and each of the animals is determined to get rid of the nuisance: Great Big Elephant winks one eye, says to himself, 'I'm going to catch that fly!' But despite the animals' best efforts, which involve a lot of tramping, rolling, swooping, and snatching, the sly insect eludes them all. Then, in a closing gatefold that uses its extra real estate to convey the mayhem and ruckus, all the creatures pile together in a massive mud pool, while My, oh my, Tiny Little Fly flits away with a smug wink. The consistently patterned, simple rhyming text is accompanied by rustic, large-scale, digitally enhanced pencil-and-gouache art in savanna-like browns, grays, oranges, and greens. Although this may be a familiar story, the words and images create an easily absorbed, enjoyable adventure.--Medlar, Andrew Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A spare rhyming text and vivid illustrations tell the story of a fly that stirs up a whole mess of trouble. First it lands on elephant's trunk and ends up eye-to-eye with the great gray beast. Elephant is just about to catch it when, after a "TRAMP! CRUSH! TRAMP!" it flies off. The next landing place is Hippo's ear, and the hippo decides to catch it. But no matter how quickly he squashes and rolls, the little fly is airborne once more. Lastly, the fly decides that the tiger's paw is the place to be, but readers will know by now that it will once more get away from even the most fearsome creature. The dynamic illustrations stretch across pages and convey the action, movement, and emotion of the story with minimal detail. From the jacket depicting the tiger and the fly across the front and back covers, to the four-page foldout showing the fly leaving the animals in the mud, readers will want to hold the book and examine the stunning pencil and gouache illustrations closely. Pair this with Eric Carle's The Grouchy Ladybug (HarperCollins, 1977) or Eric Rohmann's My Friend Rabbit (Millbrook, 2002) for a guaranteed participatory and unforgettable storytime.-Stacy Dillon, LREI, New York City (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
With a pesky antihero and catchy repetitive verse, here's a three-act saga to captivate beginning listeners and beginning readers alike. 'Tiny Little Fly / sees great big toes. . . / Tiny Little Fly / sits on Elephant's nose. / Great Big Elephant / winks one eye, / says to himself, / 'I'm going to catch that fly!' / Great Big Elephant / winks the other eye. / TRAMP! CRUSH! TRAMP! / But off flies the fly.' Fly escapes Hippo and Tiger, too; but even when the three unite in a Great Big Foldout, Tiny Little Fly just 'winks one eye' and bids 'everyone, bye!' Waldron's arresting tiger, dramatic in digitally enhanced gouache and pencil, looms large in the outsize wraparound jacket image; bold lines and a vivid palette command attention throughout, while the illustrator's close-ups focus the eye on the action of the huge animal victims, their elusive tormentor, and its circuitous path. Pair this with Jim Aylesworth and Stephen Gammell's Old Black Fly (rev. 5/92), in which a fly buzzes around an alphabet's worth of sweets before getting its just deserts. JOANNA RUDGE LONG (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
