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Summary
Summary
Sierra's funny read-aloud romp presents a monster that makes a goo-filled crust, lures hundreds and thousands of succulent flies into it, and invites his disgusting-ist friends and relations to a gala fly-pie party. Illustrations.
Author Notes
Judy Sierra is the author of Wild About Books which was a New York Times #1 picture book best seller and the winner of the 2005 E.B.White Read Aloud Award, given by the Association of Booksellers for Children. The author lives in Castro Valley, California.
Edward Koren has published nearly 1,000 cartoons in The New Yorker magazine. He has illustrated How to Eat Like a Child by Delia Ephron, A Dog's Life by Peter Mayle, and Pet Peeves by George Plimpton.The illustrator lives in Brooksfield, Vermont.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-An incomparable rhymester has teamed up with a master cartoonist to conjure up some haute cuisine-on the fly. The tune for "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" is likely to echo in children's minds as they listen to the words of "Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly Pie," in which an earnest monster chef intends to swallow "hundreds and thousands of succulent flies." After obtaining some helpful hints from a spider via e-mail, Thelonius creates a sticky crust, gathers flies, attaches them to the crust, and invites "eleventeen ravenous monsters" for dessert. The resulting creation is a thing of beauty: the flies hum, they sparkle, they play orchestral music. And, alas, they fly away. Thelonius has forgotten to bake the pie, and off it goes. The words are carefully chosen: "Up, up the staircase/it whirred and it whined/with all of the monsters galumphing behind./It whizzed out the window./It whooshed to the sky./Bye-bye, fly pie!" Koren's illustrations, done in black, white, and green, are perfectly fused with the story. Children will love the illustrated jokes, such as pie flies singing and playing instruments while monsters dance around them, holding a pie cutter. The scruffy style gives all the characters a cheerful, easygoing beatnik look that is enormously appealing, and the layout is perfectly suited to the text and illustrations. A lovable and entertaining work of art.-Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
With its outre humor and delectable black-and-white cartoon illustrations (with just a touch of lime green), this "revolting rhyme" fits squarely in the tradition of "poop fiction" and will undoubtedly appeal to the Captain Underpants crowd. Unlike the proverbial little old lady who swallowed a fly, Thelonius Monster decides that the scrumptious fly he has eaten "would taste grand in a pie." From that point on, Sierra's (Wild About Books) silly rhyme grows more and more deliciously repulsive, but Koren's (Very Hairy Harry) endearing shaggy monsters leaven the half-baked tale with just the right amount of deadpan humor. He characterizes the hero as an earnest fly-collector, "stealthily follow[ing] a horse and a dog and a cat and a cow... and spen[ding] several hours near a pile of manure." At least "eleventeen ravenous monsters" carrying pitchfork-sized forks rumba around the unbaked fly pie that glistens with hundreds of stuck green-winged specimens ("perhaps they'll die," warns the text). Just as the monsters prepare to dig in, the flies levitate the giant pie until ("by a stroke of incredible luck") their feet become unstuck. The uneven font size cleverly helps to coach inexperienced readers for a dramatic read-aloud. Despite a topic that may be too monstrous for some, Koren's outstanding illustrations should be seen by all. Ages 4-8. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Sierra takes a romping, rollicking rhyme to recount an amazing and vastly amusing culinary adventure. Intrigued by the taste of fly, the Thelonius the monster emails a spider ("a savvy insider") about technique, makes a huge and sticky crust and goes forth to gather flies. (Sierra's rhymes are fabulous, even to rhyming "sewer" and "manure.") Thelonius invites "eleventeen monsters" to partake, but since he's neglected to bake it, the pie buzzes and then takes off, the flies' feet come unstuck and the crust lands to be deliciously devoured and praised by all--including the grateful flies. Koren's irresistible and irrepressible monsters appear in their traditional black and white, with touches of acid green (the text and the flies' wings are also in green). The pictures are as full of humor as the text: Thelonius uses both a computer and a quill pen; the flies stuck to the crust form an orchestra and chorus before they take off, and the signage is hilarious. Brimming with read-aloud possibilities, and not a single fly was injured in the performance of this tale. (Picture book. 3-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. In this "revolting rhyme" (no connection to Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, 0 1982), Sierra provides New Yorker 0 cartoonist Koren with a vehicle for his signature snaggletoothed creatures. Thelonius Monster, who resembles a Muppet from the wrong side of the tracks, painstakingly prepares a pie for a dinner party: "He lured hundreds and thousands of succulent flies, and their footsies all stuck to his fly-catching pie. Perhaps they'll die." 0 They don't; before anyone can tuck into the concoction, the main ingredients launch a dramatic airborne escape. Koren's chaotically crosshatched drawings can be difficult to parse, and the black, white, and celery-green color scheme may not attract children accustomed to more lavish styles of picture-book illustration. However, with lines that rhyme sewer0 with manure,0 a certain subset of kids is sure to be well entertained.\b \b0 Slot this into storytimes featuring "I Know an Old Lady" spoofs, but don't be misled by the occasional echoes of the folk song; this is meant to be chanted rather than sung, using the varied typefaces to guide inflection. --Jennifer Mattson Copyright 2006 Booklist