There Was an Old Monkey Who Swallowed a Frog

There Was an Old...

by Jennifer Ward, Steve Gray

There was an old monkey who swallowed a frog, a bat, a mango, a toucan, an iguana, and more! What a hog! Zany illustrations rendered digitally by Steve Gray show monkey’s belly growing and growing as he eats a host of jungle creatures in this adaptation of the popular children's song, inspired by the rain forest.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Childrens, Humor, Animals

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2010

About the author

Jennifer Ward is the author of more than 25 award-winning nonfiction and fiction books for children and adults.

Her books have been translated into many languages and featured in Martha Stewart's Living, Ranger Rick, on NPR, television's Animal Planet network, and on many popular blogs such as Soule Mama.

Most of Jennifer's books are inspired by science and nature and artfully combine elements of STEM & literacy.

She writes full-time from her home in Illinois where she lives with her husband and two dogs and is easily distracted by everything outside of her windows - particularly if it has feathers!

Reviews

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another play on “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly”, this one rainforest themed. The illustrations are zany, with everything having giant bulging eyes (including the plant foods that the monkey swallows.) Not my favorite take on this poem, but it appealed to my kids, who asked for it twice today.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the better “There was an old… Who Swallowed…” books around. While yes the monkey swallows strange things like a frog, a tapir, a crock, and a vine, it has a satisfying ending. No one dies, the rhymes work well, and make sense. And the illustrations are the icing on this fun cake.

[Meg McGregor · Rating 4 out of 5]

All three of us give this book two huge thumbs up!

The story is wacky; the illustrations are lively and whimsical, and the girls couldn't stop giggling!

So, why not five stars?

Lexi and Victoria insisted that the "monkey" really resembled a "rat" and I agree!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly, accurate jungle animals and plants. The art is not my style - bulging eyes, cartoonish, caricature features. The old lady books are popular, so this may fulfill a niche, but it's not my thing.

[Annie Payne · Rating 2 out of 5]

The kids enjoyed it, but it was difficult to read it quickly without getting completely tongue-tied, and the kids didn't have a clue as to what some of the exotic animals were.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little awkward at times, but seven-year-olds would really like it. I'm sure they would notice that the rhyme scheme is off at times, but I'm also sure many of them would not care.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Different

Didn’t like the illustrations

Not a fan in comparison to others out there

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a definite tongue-twister.

[Kelly]

M grandkids favorite books

[Elizabeth Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

so cute. great illustrations. fun characters. i enjoy the creativity!!

[Pamela Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations!

[Carole · Rating 4 out of 5]

An old monkey swallows a variety of jungle animals.

[Elizabeth Bergin · Rating 2 out of 5]

"There Was an Old Monkey Who Swallowed a Frog", written by Jennifer Ward and illustrated by Steve Gray, is jungle themed version of "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". The monkey starts by eating a frog and then proceeds to cocoa, a bat, a toucan, and much more, until he's swallowed most of the jungle animals. It's written in sentences that rhyme and that are built upon as the book goes on. The illustrations in the book are pretty crazy. They over exaggerate features of the cartoon animals and are very colorful. Many of the rhymes in the story are slant rhymes, such as the lines "There was an old monkey who swallowed an iguana / I wouldn't want to eat it! But maybe you'd wanna?" This makes the flow of the story awkward and ungraceful at times.

The book doesn't really have any message that it's trying to get across. It's mostly just a fun rhyme with goofy pictures. Despite the bad rhymes, the repetition would appeal to kids about six or seven years old. Reading the book would be a good introduction to talking about rhyming words or jungle animals.

[Magila · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I'm not entirely sure why most people seem so unimpressed by this book. The illustrations are vibrant and cartoony, and the book is fun. The rhymes are entertaining, albeit not always the absolute best.

I wish the refrain was a little more awesome, but I think that children will find this book much more fantastic than their parents. There is something about the story, repetition, rhyming, and the art-colors that I think appeals to kids.

By far, the most fantastic part about this book to me is the pictures of everything the monkey swallowed on the alternating pages. Beyond that, I gave this book the round up because I find the Crowdsourcing to be a little off (underappreciatie) for this book.

[Shanshad Whelan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can I ask writers and picture book artists a favor? Can we stop trying to do retreads of this particular folksong with new and "clever" verse? Frankly, I can't think of one I like. This one seems to have simply decided to go with a jungle theme. The rhymes don't work and the humor of the original is pretty much lost.

Please. There are so many better things out there to do with clever art and text. This is not one of them.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book plays off the familiar book "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly". Personally, I think we were better off with just the original tale. Although the illustrations in this book were really captivating, the "Flow" of the authors word choice was lacking. The words just didn't go well together (ex:"he swallowed the cocoa to sweeten the frog" just DOESN'T slide off the tongue!). The idea of using a jungle theme was impressive, but the chosen animals were strange.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

A take off on the old lady who swallowed the fly with truly silly illustrations (especially the pop eyed monkey). The monkey's food choices are inventive and some of the rhymes clever. However, I wish the repeated choral rhymes either scanned better or had alliteration. (for example: He swallowed the bat right after the cocoa has neither rhyme or rhythm.
A cute book, but probably not the best choice for read alouds.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're like me and don't particularly care for the original "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly" because of that whole "perhaps she'll die" thing, you'll love this version. The illustrations are bright, lively and fun. The monkey swallows a frog, cocoa, an iguana, a sloth etc. until he's swallowed the jungle.

[The Library Lady · Rating 2 out of 5]

Concept is fun, but the rhymes are weak, weak, weak. The final verse attempts to rhyme "rumble" and "jungle". Really. And a lot of the other verses are overlong and awkward. The wild, pop-eyed art is loads of fun though.

P.S.Fred the Sock Monkey (who lives at my house)gave this book zero bananas because it HAS no bananas. And he'd be very happy if you'd send him some.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this cumulative tale, readers encounter a greedy monkey who swallows animal after animal. In the end he has tummy problems. But who wouldn't after swallowing a frog, some chocolate, a bat, a toucan, an iguana, a cat, a sloth, a tapir, a mango, a croc and a vine.

Kids will have a laugh at the humorous illustrations.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really like anything about this book. The story didn't make sense. The text was awkward to read. And the illustrations were weirdly ugly. I get the jungle twist on the classic tale, but it just didn't work. In fact, I'm only giving this book two stars because my five-year-old son liked it enough to make me finish reading it.

[David Bril]

The animation on this Shallowed tale is really beautiful. The story takes place in the rainforest with a Monkey with the appetite. He Shallowes some interesting things such as a dancing mango and Cocoa beans. The problem here is at 11 things shallowed, this book is to long and the repetitiveness starts to kick in. I liked it I just wish it was shorter.

[Donalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is retelling of the classic "There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly" chain story-- this time set in the rainforest. Many of the rhymes don't work and seem too long and complicated for young readers to chant and memorize.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the pics--will have to look up and see what else this illustrator has done.

Kids like the repetitive predictable stories.


Need to brainstorm lesson ideas ... author is visiting our school in February.

[Jennifer Jimmerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book I purchased this past Christmas as a gift for my 4-year old niece. She loves the book; I believe it is still her favorite. It's a cute book, but I run out of breath taking off all of the things the old monkey ate. I'd definitely purchase another of her books.

[Julia Berner · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is a Tapir? I had to look that one up.

I loved the Old Lady books, so this one excited me! I really like how this book and the others like it are about different environments and the things that can be found in them. The repetition and rhyme makes it fun to read.

[Mahina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute version of the classic "There Was An Old Woman" set in the jungle. The monkey looks more weird mouse than a monkey but he is charming with his einstein eyebrows. A great storytime book!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Animals are all a little weird looking, but it made me laugh. I would read it to my 9 year old and have a good chuckle.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I found the pictures rather strange and unappealing, I kind of liked the story.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another take off of "old lady" story. wild illustrations