The Flying Flea, Callie, and Me

by Bill Wallace

When a baby mockingbird falls out of her nest, she is adopted by Gray, a local cat, who names her Flea and protects her from the monster rats that live in the barn and the Bullsnake under the woodpile as he tries to come up with a plan to find her family before they fly south to Florida.

Genres: Middle Grade, Animals, Childrens, Cats, Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Bill Wallace was an American teacher and later an author of children's books. He started writing to quiet down his fourth grade students, who loved his stories and encouraged him to make “real” books.

Bill Wallace grew up in Oklahoma. Along with riding their horses, he and his friends enjoyed campouts and fishing trips. Toasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories to scare one another, and catching fish was always fun.

Bill Wallace has won numerous children's state awards and been awarded the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for Children's Literature from the Oklahoma Center for the Book.

Bill Wallace died from Lung cancer on January 30, 2012.

Former elementary school teacher; West Elementary School, Chickasha, OK, principal, since 1977, and physical education teacher. Speaker at schools and universities in various states, including State University of New York and University of South Florida.

AWARDS:

Bluebonnet Award from Texas Association of School Librarians and Children's Round Table and Sequoyah Children's Book Award from Oklahoma State Department of Education, both 1983, Central Missouri State University Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 1984, and Nebraska Golden Sowers Award from Nebraska Library Association, 1985, all for A Dog Called Kitty; Central Missouri State University Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 1984, and Pine Tree Book Award, 1985, both for Trapped in Death Cave.

Reviews

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Agreed with my first review -- perfectly cute, and I do enjoy the inclusion of the message that doing the right thing may hurt, but it's still just that: the right thing.

First review
This was a cute one. Although I thought it might have a little more closure, with Gray getting a little self confidence of his own or Flea successfully making the trip back north, it didn't detract too much from the cuteness.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book because, it was amazing how they teach flea to fly!i learned that you may not like this person but you must not tell them that or they may feel bad.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adorable and good read for group reading with students.

[Chazzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is told from the perspective of Cat, a young farm cat whose job is to be a mouser. He is to take over the job Callie was doing, before she got too old.

He is a pretty good mouser and is able to present a catch almost every morning, on the front porch for the House People. He is also still learning about the world he lives in.

Come spring a pair of mockingbirds set up housekeeping in a nearby tree. Seems they do this every year. Cat is quite curious to see what is in the nest, but the female bird is quite the dive bomber and able to keep Cat away. If not her, then the male does a good job too.

Over time he finds that there are baby birds, and he watches as they grow and learn to fly. When time comes for the birds to fly south, there is one baby who refuses to fly. Seems she experienced a fall from the nest, earlier, and is now afraid to even try!

When she falls out of the nest and lands on Cat's head, she wants him to eat her and get things over with. All the other birds have left and she has no food. The problem with the request is that Cat doesn't eat birds!

Cat takes on the responsibility of protecting Flea (the name he gives the bird). Seems there are other critters on the farm that consider birds a nice treat. Cat does manage to teach the bird to fly and gets it to fly south, but he also learns a few things about himself.

Another chapter book with illustrations that I bought for the great-gran, but had to read. It was an entertaining story. Hope she enjoys it too.

[LadyCalico · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read all three books of this trilogy (The Flying Flea, Callie and Me, That Furball Puppy and Me, and Chomps, Flea, and Gray Cat) as if they were one book, which is essentially what they are. There is good continuity in plot and character in the three books, centering around the put-upon and often misunderstood little gray cat, who seems to have a bit of the middle child syndrome in this farm family of pets. I enjoyed the stories and think most cat-loving kids would also enjoy Gray's misadventures. The three books had lovely graphics that added to the story but were illustrated by three different artists and I found I like those in one and three better than the middle book since they were more naturally cat-like, and showed more personality, IMHO. The books were written by a couple of retired teachers who had a good grasp kids' reading level and attention spans, so pre-middle school kids should be able to follow along and enjoy the stories without getting lost or confused.

[KidsFiction Teton County Library]

TCL Call #: SH CH Wallace

Teton Co. Library Staff

If you love cats, you will enjoy Gray's adventures. New to the farm, Gray was picked out of his litter to be a mouser for the House People. He is a very good mouser, but he finds that he has a lot to learn about living on a farm. Gray is also not like most cats for he does NOT eat birds. Lucky for one young bird who is convinced that he can't fly. Gray names the bird Flea and begins catching food for him and teaches him to fly. Gray also learns a valuable lesson in the process. I loved it when Gray would leave his "trophy" (a dead mouse) on teh mat for the House Mama. He was always so proud. I loved the story.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Flying Flea, Callie, and Me is a fairly decent 2-3rd grade chapter book about a cat that does not - repeat, does not - eat birds and befriends a baby bird who is abandoned after she refuses to fly south with her family. Even though he doesn't eat birds, our cat narrator is an excellent mouser and leaves many trophies for his house family on the back porch now that Callie, an older cat, can no longer catch them. The three characters have some adventures with rats in the barn and a snake in the woodpile. The story is simple, but a satisfying read for youngsters that like animal-character stories.

[Tisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

My boys loved this chapter book. It definitely had a plot that would appeal to 5-year-olds. It's definitely not the book that most of you would want to rush out and read. You would probably find it boring. However, as a read-aloud to children it was just right.

[Anika P · Rating 5 out of 5]

The flying flea, Callie, and me are written by Carrol Wallace and Bill Wallace.
In this book, there is a cat named Gray and his friend Callie. He lived with his owner. Next to the house, there was a tree. In that tree was a bird named Bird and she was making a nest. One day her chicks hatched and she told them that cats and snakes eat birds. Gray admitted that he doesn't eat birds but Bird did not believe him. One day one of the chicks fell out of the tree and ever since the chick never left the nest. All the other birds learned how to fly except this chick. When winter came Bird and all the other chicks flew for the south. This chick was alone. Gray suddenly felt something clinging onto his fur. Then he found out that a chick from Bird's nest was sitting on his head. He names the chick Flea and gave her some grasshoppers. The chick tells him she needs to fly and reach the south. Gray with Callie makes a plan with the bull snake near Bird's tree. Will Flea reach the south?
My favorite part was when Gray asked Flea to go away because to me it seemed funny. Another part I liked was when he wanted Flea to come back and he understands from Callie that Flea would come back in spring.
I recommend this book for people who like fiction and animals.

[Peggi Warner-Lalonde · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful little book.

[Shanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about a mouse-killing but non-bird-killing cat who helps a baby bird learn to fly.

[Monica Lit · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun story about the adventures of a young cat on a farm and all of the mischievous events he gets unto and how he learns to help others and shows compassion for the other animals on the farm.

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young cat, the current mouser at the farm, rescues a baby bird who is afraid to fly and finally gives her the courage to try to fly.

[Kaylynn Johnsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A soft, gentle read for the young readers.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is sooo cute and i use to read it a lot when i was younger and first started reading but know that im rereading it, the bullsnake just got bullied and blackmailed the entire time😭😭

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a darling chapter book. I read it to my daughter in the hopes of getting her more interested in chapter books. It seems as if she is gravitating towards books with animals as the main characters. She really enjoyed the book and me reading it to her and it has a sweet and simple message. Basically, Gray is the new cat on the farm. He makes friends with Callie, the old farm cat and even Bullsnake. Unexpectedly, a baby bird lands on his back and Gray can't seem to get him off! Gray doesn't like eating birds, just mice and an unexpected friendship begins. But there's one problem: baby bird needs to learn to fly so she can go south with the rest of the birds. Gray and Callie work with Flea(Gray's name for the bird) to get her to fly. Soon, Gray and Callie concoct an idea to get Flea to fly and it all has to do with her confidence!

[Beth Bacon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The narrator of this fun little book, Ideal for fourth graders, is a cat. A farm cat. Farm cats are supposed to chase birds. But this cat’s best friend is a bird named Callie. The cat saved Callie when she fell out of a tree and Callie is afraid to fly. So the cat has to teach Callie to fly. Callie and the cat go through this experience with the help (and sometimes criticism) of the other animals in the farmyard. Even though we all know Callie is supposed to fly away at the end, it’s sad to see her go.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cute on from Carol and Bill Wallace, based on the antics of their own animals. I should have read this one before That Furball Puppy and Me. I'm kind of anal about needing to read books in proper sequence. This story is about Gray, a young cat new to the farm, who helps a baby mockingbird learn how to fly. The Wallaces certainly know their cat behavior! The story is told from the point of view of Gray. I can't wait to read more by this pair. Recommended for 2nd to 5th graders.

[Callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book from the book order, because it has my name in it. It's really short though, and I read it in maybe an hour, because I was stopping in between to talk to Jenessa who was reading eclipse at the same time. It was an interesting book, but not much plotline, which made it seem stupid and childish.

[Stephani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this to my 4 year old as one of our first read-aloud chapter books. It was great for her because of the easy to understand story line, the fun characters, and the basic vocabulary. It had a few more words that expanded vocabulary. Looking forward to reading this again when my younger ones are ready for a read-aloud!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute story i read with with my son

[Ashleigh Cartmill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little story. I lent it to my sister when we were younger and she made a board game about it.

[Flower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written from a cat view. Good!

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

gray cat found a bird on his head and tried too get him off.the only day that was is when gray cat & Bullsnake had a fight.my favorit part was that

[Malia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly and funny book.

[Summer]

it is good so far

[Annika Guo]

ok

[Jamie Leeper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's cat that doesn't eat birds! Very funny story! I like the fact that the cat tells the story. I will read this again.

[A Hoppy Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
Cats and birds aren't friends, but someone forgot to tell this baby bird. Lots of laughter ensues as Gray gets roped into raising the misplaced birdie.

[Adrienne Dixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute book that a student loved talking with me about. It’s a book that got him to enjoy reading again. He couldn’t put it down.