Tiny Little Fly by Michael Rosen

by Michael Rosen

This is a stunning, bold and funny picture book for the very young, from Children's Laureate Mike Rosen and new Irish illustrator Kevin Waldron. My oh my! Big elephant tramping, big hippo rolling, big tiger snatching, but off flies the fly...From Children's Laureate Michael Rosen comes this great read-aloud story for the very young, with fabulous, bold illustrations by Kevin Waldron. Immediately engaging and quite unforgettable. With rythmic text and clever use of sound words, this is a great read aloud. Tiny, quick fly outwits big elephant, hippo, and tiger in a lively story that chalks one up for the little guy. This title features artwork that is at once funny and charming, from up-and-coming illustrator Kevin Waldron, illustrator of "Mr Peek and the Misunderstanding at the Zoo" (Templar).

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Childrens, Fiction, Humor, Pre K

Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Michael Rosen, a recent British Children’s Laureate, has written many acclaimed books for children, including WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, and I’M NUMBER ONE and THIS IS OUR HOUSE, both illustrated by Bob Graham. Michael Rosen lives in London.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tiny little fly buzzes around an elephant, a hippo, and a tiger. Each animal tries to catch the fly. None of them succeed and the tiny little fly flies away.

This cute picture book has large illustrations printed on shades of brown, heavy-duty paper. With each picture, the reader guesses which animal the fly lands on. Big printed words of what they do to catch the fly will have readers pretending to be the animal and performing it's actions. I feel this book is terrific for two to five year olds. It would be great for storytime at school or the public library.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 sterren - Nederlandse hardcover

Kijk eens wie daar vliegt, het is Vliegensvlugge Vlieg!

Vliegensvlugge Vlieg vliegt wat in het rond, en gaat nu en dan zitten op een dikke kont. De eigenaren van die achterwerken zijn niet zo gesteld op deze kleine bezoeker en proberen Vliegensvlugge Vlieg te pletten. Maar wie vliegt daar alweer vliegensvlug omhoog?

Een prachtig prentenboek. Fijne afwisseling om echt mooie illustraties te zien. De kinderen en kleinkinderen genieten er zichtbaar van als ik voorlees. Het prikkelt hun fantasie. Ik gebruik het in de huisbibliotheek het is altijd een succes!

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was really hoping the fly would get caught.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

British Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen has created another delight of a picture book. Readers follow the adventures of Tiny Little Fly as he buzzes past some impressive animals. Great Big Elephant tries to catch the fly, but even with all of his tramping and crushing, the fly flies away. When Tiny Little Fly lands on Great Big Hippo’s ear, the hippo tries to catch him by rolling and squashing. But the fly flies away. Even Great Big Tiger, who swoops and snatches at the fly with his pay cannot catch the fly. Told in a wonderful rhyme with plenty of noise and fun, this book will be right at home in any toddler story time.

Rosen’s verse here is filled with a sense of fun and playfulness. The repetition in the book gives it a wonderful pace and gait that is a pleasure to read aloud. Each large animal takes two winks at the fly, then tries in their own way to catch it with plenty of ruckus. Thanks to the simplicity of the story and the attraction of the large animals, I can see this being made into a felt board story very easily. It would also convert well into a little play acting with parents or teachers.

Waldron’s illustrations are simple but sophisticated. They have a mix of timelessness and modernism that is charming. His use of a natural-feeling background rather than stark white makes for a warm feel throughout the book. Waldron combines several techniques in these illustrations from ink drawings to paint. For reading aloud to a group, Waldron’s illustrations work well thanks to their large size. Additionally, he allows children to guess what the next large animal will be, adding to the pleasure of sharing the book aloud.

An ideal story time pick, get this one for any insect, tiger, elephant or hippo story time you are planning. Heck, it’s good enough to use time and again for any reason at all. A guaranteed hit with the toddler and preschool set. Appropriate for ages 2-5.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiny Little Fly was new to my niece, but not to my nephew. Apparently "the library lady" brought this book with her to story hour at his day care, so the boy was already aware of this book when we read it.

Four year olds love to blabber plots. :-) I'd read a page, and my nephew would tell us what was going to be on the next page. Whatcha gonna do? At least we know that he has no memory problems. He really does enjoy Tiny Little Fly, especially the ending, and I think that my niece would agree with him on that point. This was a cute story, probably most ideally suited to pre-schoolers or kindergartners.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this delightful readaloud title, a diminutive fly buzzes by three mighty beasts--the elephant, the hippo, and the tiger--without coming to any harm. Despite their best efforts and amid all sorts of delightful language---"TRAMP! CRUSH! TRAMP!" (unpaginated), "ROLL! SQAUSH! ROLL!" (unpaginated), and "SWOOP! SNATCH! SWOOP!" (unpaginated) and possible mayhem, the fly just keeps on buzzing, slightly out of reach. Young readers will enjoy hearing this one multiple times, and readers won't mind reading it again because of how much fun it is to say the words and enjoy the pencil, gouache and digitally enhanced illustrations that fill its pages. I love the two-page spread that shows the elephant's eye peering at that fly.

[Sherry Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiny little fly is a mischievous character. It lands on an elephant, a hippo, and a tiger. All three try to " get that fly." But of course the fly is too quick for them. With its rhyming text and amusing illustrations, it's a perfect read-aloud book for little ones.

I have used this book at library story times, and the kids love guessing which animal the fly is landing on. The center four-page fold-out illustration is also a big hit with them. And when the fly says, "Bye," they all say, "Bye!"

Highly recommended for kids ages 2-6. -Sherry Ellis, author of Don't Feed the Elephant!

[Emily Matview · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great story time book if you want parent/child interaction. I had the parents touch their children's ear when the fly landed on an animals ear, toes when the animals were on the toes and so on. Lots of giggles were had.

[Laurie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one for a tiger-themed preschool storytime, and the kids really enjoyed it! They had a great time guessing each animal before it was revealed, as well as waiting to see if any of the animals would actually catch the tiny little fly. The cadence makes this a fun read-aloud, the illustrations are nice, and the book is a great, large size for group reading.

[Guilherme Semionato · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6ct3...

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

the art by Kevin Waldron 😍

[Christina Mallory]

Text-to-Teaching Connection:
A response activity could include students being able to identify rhyming words throughout the text. The teacher will allow students to break up in groups and assign a number of pages for the students to come up with the number of rhyming words used in that part of the story.

[Cemeread · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tiny Little Fly is a simple story with rhyming, actions, and repetitive phrases. The story follows a fly as it lands on different animals who try to get it. The illustrations greatly increase the enjoyment of this book. The backgrounds are neutral with shades of brown and just enough green to create plant textures, which make the realistic animals pop. The story starts on the end pages where a black line, shown throughout the story, allows the reader to trace the fly's flight path. The reader can see the elephant's saggy skin as it moves. Some of the hippo's pink skin shows through it's mud layer. I love the mud splashes in the layout with the hippo rolling. Kevin Waldron really captures the animal's eyes well, with the exception of the fly. It's eyes make it look a bit cute. It is after all , hard to like or root for a fly.

Tiny Little Fly is a good story for the youngest of children through to preschoolers. I think the ideal audience would be toddlers. The youngest children's attention can be held by using black pipecleaners with flys shaped onto the ends to touch the body part the fly lands on and then fly away. Toddlers will love burning up some energy copying the animals motions and preschoolers can help with the repetitive phrases. The only flaw with the book is double fold out near the end of the story. These may be fine for a personnal purchase, but tend to tear or crease with frequent use in schools or public libraries. Don't be surprised if your little one wants to pretend to be an animal that tries to get the fly after reading Tiny Little Fly.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I love: the great oversized pictures, the opaque colors on the page, the expressions on the animals' faces, the slightly retro-printed-poster feel to the illustrations; that the rhyme scans well, and the repetitive story is perfect for young storytimes...love, love this book!

[Susan Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book for my "Bugs" storytime today. So cute! Great for phonological awareness.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3* art
3* story/humor

Love how the little fly upsets all the enormous animals.

[Cosette]

The suspense! And what will happen? Oh my!

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a cute little children's book about a pesky fly that all the animals try to catch which the fly lands on.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used this one for "Jungle" storytime on 11/5/19. I had never seen it before and it's so cute! The kids and parents both really enjoyed it.

[Charles Irwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of the book and artwork is amazing. We follow a fly on a journey to frustrate other animals in the jungle, but never to be caught. The animals we encounter are the hippo, the elephant and the tiger. There is a little rhyme that goes with the fly flying towards an animal and landing on them, although not the entirety of the book rhymes consistently.

This would be a good book to get children thinking about rhyming and poetry and introducing the idea that not all poems have to rhyme throughout, or even at all. They could write their own story of what a fly may land on, deciding on what animals they would like to pick or creating a new theme all together.

I enjoyed the book and the story, it almost leaves the ending up in the air for children to complete for themselves. The art work is superb and it is clearly meant for a much younger audience, possibly lower KS1, yet someone the age of 20 can still enjoy it.

[Jordan Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book. I liked the oversized pages and the graphics. My kids enjoyed the story and we have read it the past few nights. The only issue I have is the foldout pages at the end. I just dislike foldouts in kid's books. Tiny flaps, okay, but whole page foldouts just make it hard to hold and read. And they are going to be bent the very first time the book is opened. I would recommend the story! But the foldouts are a hard pass. I tried to skip over that part, but my kids already know it's there! Lol

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only three animals, so no development or punchline. The ending struck me as just a summative repetition of the earlier text. Also, why were the big animals so bothered? Also, tigers and hippos do not share even a continent. So, it makes no sense as a fable or an animal story, imo. But of course it's kinda silly and the little creature "wins" so of course some little kids will love it.

Michael Rosen's books are always worth a look.

[BrocheAroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can already tell this is going to be a storytime favorite. Michael Rosen’s (British Children’s Laureate) simple text creates the sound affects for the animals trying to catch the fly. Tramp, crush, tramp – swat, swoop, snatch – roll, squash, roll: so many sounds and animals to act out with each reading! The tiny little fly lands here and there, while Kevin Waldron helps us imagine a fly’s-eye-view of each animal the fly passes.

[Ashley Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good simple book to read with a class. It can spark lots of class conversation throughout it. There are bigger works that we can discuss and think about what it means. Its also a great book to practice inferring with ands predicting what will happen. It is a super fun book to engage students in. I will defiantly have this book in my classroom for students to read when ever they would like. I think it would be fun to make a project out of it.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly rating this one for the illustrations, which are GORGEOUS! The story itself was ok. I wish the action words were more relatable for younger kiddos, to give them the chance to move along with the story.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish the cadence was better. The story was nice and simple, and would work really well at story time. What really makes the book stand out are the illustrations, which are soft but powerful and fun at the same time.

[Kaylin Kojima · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun and easy to read book for kids. The text rhymes which makes it more fun and interesting for kids to read or listen to. It is also repetitive which makes it easy for younger kids to understand. The illustrations are also very well-detailed and engaging.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gem! Large, spare text and equally large illustrations of elephant, hippo, tiger. And, of course, one little fly. All the stars here.

Themes: animals, flies
Ages: toddler-K
Pub year: 2010

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun Kevin Waldron illustrations.

First Line: "My, oh my,
Tiny Little Fly!"

[Emerson and Theodore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good art and a cute simple plot. 4 year old boy enjoyed.