The Fly Flew In (I Like to Read) by David Catrow

I Like to Read

by David Catrow

A fly enters a concert hall and causes a commotion among the audience and performers alike in this funny and easy-to-read picture book. In the wake of a fly's flight, a wig flips, eyeglasses fall, and a lollipop is launched. Musicians BANG and BOOM as they try to get that fly! All fail, and the chaos culminates when an overzealous singer, flyswatter in hand, leaps off the stage. The audience applauds enthusiastically for the greatest display of showmanship they have ever seen. David Catrow pays homage to the slapstick films of the last century with masterfully rendered artwork and an understated text that has a music of its own. An I Like to Read book, Guided Reading Level C.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fiction

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First published August 1, 2012

About the author

David Catrow's favorite subject in school was math. Why? Well, Mr. Hirsch's class was where Catrow did some of his best drawings! Catrow's zany illustrations have illuminated over 30 books for kids, and his editorial cartoons are syndicated in more than 900 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Not bad for someone who started out as a pre-med major at Kent State and later worked as a paramedic for ten years. During this time Catrow also worked as a freelance artist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon-Journal. Art finally emerged as his definitive career, and he's never stopped since.

This amusing illustrator and his wife, Deborah, live in Ohio and have two children. When asked what would be the one thing he would like to learn to do, Catrow replied that he'd like to learn to catch a Frisbee with his teeth! It's this same offbeat sense of humor that truly colors his art. There's no doubt that Catrow's work has brought chuckles, smiles and even smirks to the young and old.

(Scholastic authors)

Reviews

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was just mentioning to someone how it is so difficult to find an early easy reader that tells any sort of compelling story - (which is understandable when you are dealing with limited vocabulary). David Catrow is a genius! He kept the reading level simple and let his illustrations really tell the story. I also love how we are shelving this in our easy reader section even though it's picture book sized. Can't wait to read others in the "I like to read" series.

[Layla & Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

We don't know who picked the books for this week (come on, Rachel... we know it was you) but they were mostly a big fat blech.

David Catrow's The Fly Flew In was in that vein. The book is pretty much the story of a fly that goes into the opera and causes havoc because the adults are stupid. The end. Also, we don't know where this books is set - but we hope to find out so we can avoid the town. The people that live there are UGLY. We know that is the author/illustrators prerogative to draw ugly people. But. It's is also our prerogative to never ever visit this town of ugly people. We just don't like the illustration.

With all the bad things though - this would be a good book for a beginner reader. Because the ugly illustrations are brightly colored and active and the words are simple and sparse.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

As flies often will do, one little fly flits from person to person and object to object, causing havoc everywhere it goes. As one by one, the musicians and concert goers get involved in catching that fly, the performance is interrupted, with instruments, musicians, signer, and even audience members getting tangled up in the race to stop the pesky critter. Never has opera been so exciting or so interactive, and the standing O that the audience provides at the end of the book could be for the fly's leaving or for the mess he caused. Funny, funny book filled with watercolor and ink illustrations that will make even the grumpiest reader smile. Flee, fly, flee!

[Paul Farbman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very comically entertaining book for children. The sentences are all very short so that young children can easily read them. They rely heavily on the pictures to help the reader draw inferences as to what they mean.

All of the human faces are drawn in a distorted style similar to that of charcuteries. Most of the double spreads show a portion of the story that continues onto the next double spread when moving from left to right. This teaches pre-reading skills.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fly Flew In/ David Catrow/ 2012
Genre: fiction
Format: easy reader
Plot Summary: A fly flies into a concert hall wreaking havoc.
Considerations: no red flag
Review Citation: School Library Journal, vol 58, issue 9, p112
Selection Source: Novelist
Recommended age: 0-8

[Cosette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating tale following a day in the life of a fly. A true page turner. Fabulous pictures. Thought I could hear the applause.

[Linda Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully illustrated and highly entertaining easy reader.

[Kendra Acker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would highly recommend the usage of this book to young readers who are starting to stray a bit further into their reading. Each page of the book has a simple five word sentence at the most containing simple words and some that may need some help to figure out.
For some reason I thought there would be more to the story than there was. I thought it was going to be similar to the ‘Super Fly Guy’ stories. I guess because the cover photo made me believe that that kid was going to have some sort of interaction with the fly that was standing upon his ice cream cone.
This book, though as simple as it is, has an organized beginning, middle, and ending. In the beginning that fly flies through crowded public places, flying into a concert hall. He whips around the concert hall through the crowd of people waiting to enter and past those in their seats. Along his flight it was always mentioned that he needed to be rid of. Until in the end he was.
The illustrations are funny and captivating. Not a ton of details, would be a good book to read to a larger group because of how it includes bigger details rather than some big with a mixture of small details that only those sitting close to the book can see.

[Sunah Chung · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fly flies into an opera hall, causing mayhem during an opera performance.
The opera's actors and actresses, music performers, and attendees do not know what to do when the fly flies in and continues to mess around. The text of the book centers on quotes like “the fly flew in, out, and on” (unpaged) and “get that fly” (unpaged). Young children might like the chaotic nature of the illustrations and the short and recursive sentences of this book. Some illustrations did not make sense to me though. For instance, behind the orchestra that plays the music, the conductor is eating pizza. Does that mean the performance is a rehearsal? If so, what about the audience? The audience is sitting in front of the stage which implies that it is a live performance. I wondered whether children would like this book. If so, what makes them think this book is fun?

[Raquel Oliveira De Aguiar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colorful and cartoonish, this picture book follow an inconvenient fly. The adventure of the small fly takes place in a theater, where the fly creates a big mess trying to find the exit. David Catrow's illustrations are eye catchy, expressive and adds another layer to the story. Funny book to be included in a bug's story time.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations for this book are simultaneously disgusting, charming and hilarious. I have no idea how Catrow does it. Worth it for the illustrations alone.

[Mae · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small fly draws a lot of attention aided by hilarious illustrations.

[Ms. B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly story about a fly, it will provide you, your students or children with a few chuckles. Young readers will also enjoy reading this beginning reader to their caregivers.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of the style of illustrations, and there isn't much meat to the story. However, the havoc that the fly causes in the theater should get kids laughing.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are big fans of David Catrow's books, so whenever we find one at our local library, I just have to check it out. This is an entertaining book for beginnning readers. The narrative is short, with one simple sentence on a page, often accompanied by some humorous onomatopoeia.

The illustratons are fantastic and really help to explain the different concepts of on, off, in and out. The story is simple, but funny, and the way that the people react to the fly is quite silly. We enjoyed reading this book together, even though the book is a bit young for our girls.

[Marilea Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is short sweet and to the point! It is definitely easy to relate to, we've all been bugged by a fly at some point. I would use this book in the classroom as a read aloud because the pictures tell a lot of the story and it is humorous so it would probably gain student interest. I would also use this book when teaching the “fl” sound because, there are lots of words in this story that start with that sound. I would also keep this in my classroom library because it is likely to get the interest of a boy, just from the pictures alone.

[Courtney Angelo]

This book was interesting, but full of humor and enjoyable for young children. I absolutely hate bugs; truthfully, I am terrified of them. This book addresses exactly that! A group of musicians are chasing this flu during their performance, swatting and running and swinging, trying to get rid of it. To their amazement, they gets standing ovation at the end of their show. Are the people cheering for the loss of a fly or an amazing show? Readers may never know. The illustrations are full of life and will definitely please a young crowd.

[Genee121 · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Catrow’s “The Fly Flew In” is an entertaining book I would definitely recommend for beginning readers due to the narrative being short, and the use of only one sentence on each page. I quite enjoyed how the author used bright humorous illustrations to describe the various concepts of in, out, and on, off. We all know how a fly can cause havoc, flying from here to there, from one person to the next as he did in the story interrupting the performance. The fly had the audience, musicians, and concertgoers trying to stop him. What a funny book. Shoe fly don’t bother me!

[Jacob Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 2012 book is a great example of how a book might seem simple, but it is actually very complex. The students who read this book will definitely enjoy the pictures and constant action that takes place. However, if one reads the book carefully, there are examples of: conjunctions, alliteration, articles, etc. Therefore, this book would be a great example of reading and a reading workshop that teachers could do with students.

[Dest · Rating 4 out of 5]

With very few words (many of them prepositions), Catrow tells the story of a fly causing mayhem during a concert. The illustrations are gross and funny. This would be a great choice for a struggling reader because it's fun and simple. I imagine after a few paired readings many children will be able to memorize it and then read it fluidly.

[Desiree Kulewsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think what i mostly liked about this book was the pictures. They were colorful and silly and there was a lot going on in each page. If you were reading this with a child i would suggest taking your time to look at the pictures. I loved them! I thought the story was cute too but the pictures made it great.

[Chanelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for developing readers. It is about a fly that terrorizes an entire town!At the end, the people of a town are so happy when the fly finally flew out. The illustrations are great and I think that a developing reader would enjoy this.

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

An annoying fly disturbs a bunch of people in an opera. That's all this book is about. It was rather boring only because there wasn't much to it. It was a little funny though and it made me laugh. I think children would enjoy it because the pictures are cute.

[Maggie Mattmiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story for new readers to be able to read independently (or out loud to an adult they love!) Could also be good for working on prepositions. The words might be 2 star worthy, but as always, David Catrow's illustrations earn a star of their own. So great.

[Angela De Groot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very colorful and lively illustrations. The fly flew into the opera and mayhem broke loose.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, silly fun.

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great easy reader, but more fun.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Thanks, David Catrow for another fabulously goofy picture book!

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book for those just beginning to read. The pictures tell the simple story of what can happen at the opera when there is fly on the loose. Rambunctious fun!