I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

by Alison Jackson, Judy Schachner (Illustrator)

I know an old lady who swallowed a pie, a Thanksgiving pie, which was really too dry.

And with that the feast begins! After the pie the old lady swallows a whole squash, all of the salad, and the entire turkey! Will this holiday feast end in humor or disaster?

Genres: Picture Books, Thanksgiving, Holiday, Childrens, Food, Humor, Storytime

32 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had the family in laughing riotously.

This old lady starts out pretty good. She eats a whole pie, which isn't too bad and drinks a gallon of cider. She needs portion control. She has heat in her stomach. Anyway. It goes on from there with everything she eats, like a big pot.

The moral of the story is, if you hog the food at Thanksgiving and eat to much, you will end up being a float in a parade.

The artwork is terrible, but it is a funny book and the kids thought it was very funny. We were laughing together. I was more laughing at them getting tickled. They gave it 4 stars.

[Archit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor old lady! She doesn't seem to have a sense of what to eat and what not. She swallows everything that comes her way. She can even swallow a 10-layer cake! Will she be content?

[Mariah Roze · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students thought this book was hilarious!

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I'm not a fan of the scribble illustrations, they were easily overlooked by the humor of what this old lady would eat next. A good rendition of the swallowed a fly song, though I think I almost like this one better because of the food/Thanksgiving humor. The repetition is always good for a storytime, and this twist is enough to keep the interest of most children. Though it goes along with my idea of a Dessert theme, the overall presence of Thanksgiving in this book makes it seem like it might not work as well for a summer-time storytime. I enjoyed the smiles I got from it, though.

11/9/10 Went quite well with both the preschool and the special needs groups. So fun to read this. And the children get the story and the pictures. The building/repetitive text books are always great because they become more familiar with what I'll be reading. Yet they never know just how I'll read it. :-)

11/16/10 & 11/18/10 This went well in both preschool groups. The Tue. group was a little larger and got a bit more involved. But the Thu. group was very taken by the pictures. I believe all of the adults loved it, too.

So fun. This may be one of my favorite Thanksgiving books.

11/25/15 I only had one family (with 2 kids to work with), so I let the kids pick two books, then I closed with this one. They both enjoyed it.

11/22/17 Thanksgiving/food theme. Everyone of another small crowd enjoyed--the little kids and especially their older siblings.

[Ginna]

This is a great book to talk about good manners and consideration for others when sharing food.
I would do an activity in small groups as follows:

I will have cutouts of food representing the food on the story and set up a "Thanks Giving" table for each small group.
Then, I will ask the children to go ahead and serve the plates and have "pretending" dinner with their peers
After that, I will have a conversation about what they just did, how they handle the situation, if they took turns, if they ate with their hands, if they used the utensils, etc Then, I will bring thing from the book, and we will compare behaviors on the table, and as a group we will talk about manners and what should be appropriate on the table. Keep in mind that you are the role model, and that some cultures have different customs when refers to food. Be open-minded and be ready to support your students during the conversation. Help them to accept others and to learn new things!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know I should just laugh at this silly book but it struck me wrong. Even though we almost all end up eating to the point of explosion on Thanksgiving Day, this book seemed uncomfortable to me. Ageism and body image concerns came to mind, as well as the weirdness of an enormous, stuffed old lady becoming a balloon in the Thanksgiving Day parade. I know, I'm sorry. I'll try not to be so aware next time.

[Sadia Mansoor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was funny & I was amazed at the amount of food the hosts had! Why were they showing/placing it in front of the old lady? They were already scared that perhaps she will die :D

I was seriously waiting for this moment, but... oppss my bad. :P
Also, I find the ending abrupt :/

[Shiloah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My kids were wondering when she would just “STOP.”

[Manik Sukoco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alison Jackson has written a superb take-off on the classic, I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. In this very funny, very hip rendering, the old lady with an unbelievable appetite, swallows first the pie, the very pie she brought to the Thanksgiving feast. This is followed by a jug of cider "to moisten the pie which was really too dry", then a roll, a squash, the salad, the turkey and on and on... With each addition, she grows bigger and fatter to the delight and amusement of the family children and the horror of their parents, as they watch their entire holiday meal disappear. Ms Jackson's text is complimented by Judith Byron Schachner's wonderfully expressive and detailed illustrations. Together they have authored a holiday classic, complete with charming, surprise ending, that will be enjoyed by your family for many years to come.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last page is great!!

Ages: 4 - 8

Cleanliness: "for goodness sake" and "oh my gosh" are said.

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[Leah Puckett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know an old lady who swallowed a pie is a cute thanksgiving themed book. It has repetition and rhyming words. It also had a consistent pattern. The longer the list of things the old lady ate the bigger the old lady got. The illustration does add to the funny story line.




Learning Experience:
For this book I will have an old lady puppet, it will have an opening to insert food as the story goes along. This book will be read in small groups and each child will be handed an object from the story to add to the old lady’s tummy as we read along.

[Aleece · Rating 1 out of 5]

I spin on the classic "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" however this was not like that book at all. There are much better spin offs out there like "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover" and "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat." I found that I really did not like the illustrations either, they were sort of disturbing and the Old Lady ate all of the Thanksgiving food and the other adults seem angry at her for eating all of the food. It just didn't work for me.

[Cassie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many picture books exists which follow the cumulative pattern of "There's was an old lady who swallowed a fly", but this one takes the cake... errr, Pie. Not only are the illustrations eye catching, thanks to Skippyjon Jones creator Judith Schachner, but the new twist on the old song is fun and the ending is a pleasant surprise.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

*sigh* Finally! A book about an old lady swallowing things that actually makes a little sense. Except for that pot...I still don't understand that one AT ALL. But, AT LEAST SHE DOESN'T DIE!!!! =D

So much better than that stupid fly version. This one has to be the best so far. =)

[Emily Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored this book when I was little. Come Thanksgiving, I would have my dad read it to me again and again. I think this would be a fun, laid-back book to use in the Read Aloud Session right before Thanksgiving.

[Brianna Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

this a baby book but its really funny and it keeps going on and on of what she eats and what she does check it out!!!!!!

smmary by Brianna Hawkins
book by Alison Jackson!

[Silverlibraries · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it at work for a nostalgia kick.
It’s alright. Was great when I was a kid

[Jen Herting · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly i agreed with her decisions until she swallowed an entire pot? not gonna lie she lost me there

[Calvina · Rating 4 out of 5]

My four year old thought this was just hilarious, so did I.

[Kristin O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Horrifying. Hilarious.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite. The story is too similar to a thousand other books and I wasn’t a huge fan of the artwork either. There were a few words that were very difficult for younger readers as well, like “pallid” and “murky.” Cute but not one I’ll read again.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoiler alert: after eating all that food, she gets full and turns into a Thanksgiving day parade balloon.
Canadian kids don't really relate, but if you do the story with props, they get really excited to feed the old lady.

[Makenzie Soeken · Rating 3 out of 5]

A silly spin-off of the classic tale of the "Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly", this book tells the tale of an old lady who swallows an entire thanksgiving feast! Throughout the story she keeps eating more and more food, and growing bigger and bigger, but never dies! This book would be really fun to do as a class read aloud, where everyone takes their turn reading a line of the story.

[Sophia Tarullo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fun holiday twist on a classic, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," is an exciting one to read during the Thanksgiving holiday. In this twist, there is a older lady who has quite an appetite. Her diet consisted that night of a salad, a whole turkey, an entire pie, and so much more... "perhaps she'll die." The comedic words are accompanied by wonderful, colorful, and chaotic illustrations allow the readers to be even more engulfed in the story.

I would recommend this book to children grades k-4. It is perfect for the Thanksgiving holiday time and would welcome many giggles in the classroom.

[Caitlyn Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A twist on the classic story of the old lady who swallowed the fly. I thought that this was very clear that they did it this way,especially the ending!

[Taneika Miliam]

Text-to-Text
The author of this is Allison Jackson . This book reminds me of the book, I know a lady that swallowed a pie. This book teaches concepts of rhyming word as well as name a Holiday. This book teaches words such as alliteration. It is also a fiction book that tells a story of this that can’t happen in real life.

[Val · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know how this is so much more ageist and fat shaming than the original (which I actually like, probably because it's so outlandish), but Jackson managed it. This book just made me so uncomfortable, I'm glad I gave it a read through before putting it on display this holiday season. Back to the stacks it goes!

[Kate Matheis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a silly book and students would find it amusing. The repetitive nature of the book would be good for students who aren't quite reading but at that mimicking stage where they begin to be interested in reading. Students would enjoy the brightly colored funny pictures.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

We laughed out loud several times. Pure joy. Loved the rhythms and internal rhymes

[Zezinho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious take on the original "I know an old lady who swallowed a FLY". This book gets me EVERY TIME! Trade pie for fly and it's A+!