Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-On a trip to the beach, Danny McGee declares that he can drink the whole sea. His sister Frannie tells him to prove it, and so starts a bold new take on "The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." Stanton's writing has a childlike exuberance, racing away at a fast clip as the gluttonous boy gulps down the sea and swallows a tree, a bird, and a bee. And a TV. And the author himself, depicted as a photograph rather than an illustration. The story is very funny when read aloud with enthusiasm, and children will be in absolute fits by the surprise twist at the end. Even more impressive, though, is how Stanton maintains a single-sound rhyme throughout (with the exception of the concluding line). Given this constraint, it is not surprising that he resorts to inventing a word. However, in a humorous nod, he acknowledges his readers' intelligence ("And I know you think there's no such thing as a swee") before proceeding to define the made-up term. Layton's scrawly naive style is a perfect complement to this crazy tale and its show-off protagonist. Placement of the images, and the words that dance around them, fits the overall presentation and will assist any who try to read the title. VERDICT A riotous rhyming book that just begs to be read aloud in a storytime setting.-Rachel Forbes, Oakville Public Library, Ont. © Copyright 2017. 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
In the tradition of the old lady who swallowed the fly, Judith Kerrs The Tiger Who Came to Tea, and Jack Kents The Fat Cat, Stanton and Layton play with the idea of a huge appetite as an objective correlative of the rollicking ego of a preschooler. Young Danny decides to drink the sea--and thats only the beginning. The little redheads exploits move from goofy (And he swallowed a cat / who was drinking some tea) to tall tale (And he swallowed the mountains, / and every last tree) to absurdist (And he swallowed the people / and that includes me. / And Im writing this book inside Danny McGee) at just the right pace, slow enough for us to savor the mixed-media illustrations and fast enough to forestall questions of logic. The rhymes roll along in nonstop dactyls, and Danny just keeps getting more and more gleeful. The big-eater story usually ends with evisceration, regurgitation, or death, but this iteration holds a big surprise. (Never underestimate a smart older sister.) Adult readers may winkle out some political satire (And he swallowed America, / land of the free), and one illustrations reliance on cultural stereotyping is highly unfortunate. But the main audience is more likely to resonate with the glorious pleasure of being bad and the outlandish humor of the pictures. sarah ellis (c) Copyright 2017. 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.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
How does a boy drink up the whole sea?Why, with a very long, red-and-white-striped straw, of course! Danny, a white boy with curly red hair, and his sister, Frannie, with bright red frizzy pigtails, travel to the beach in their little shiny red play car. When Danny boasts that he can drink the sea, Frannie doubts him but "fetches" him a straw at his request to aid in the strange marine operation. Danny not only swallows the sea, he starts swallowing everything in the world. In rhyming verse, he swallows a bird and a bee, a fly and a flea. He swallows the author ("And he swallowed the people and that includes me. / And I'm writing this book inside Danny McGee."). He even swallows "America, land of the free. / And he swallowed up London, chim, chim, cher-ee!" Only Frannie is left to tell the tale and swallow him. She makes her vengeful pronouncement on the whole adventure: "Little brothers can be SO annoying sometimes." The comic, mixed-media illustrations feature collage elements such as the author himself reading this book, photographed French fries from a chip shop in a simply drawn newspaper cone on the London page, and a realistic image of the Empire State Building, with a cartoon King Kong wearing a red, white, and blue I [heart] NY hat. Hyperbole, verbal and visual, reigns in this zany world. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
