There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!

There Was an Old Lady

by Lucille Colandro, Jared Lee (Illustrator)

Celebrate Halloween with a twist on the classic song from the bestselling There Was an Old Lady series for kids! You’ll never guess what she’ll swallow next!

There was an old lady who swallowed a bat.

I don't know why she swallowed a bat,

imagine that.



The Old Lady is back and this time she's swallowing a bat, an owl, a cat, a ghost, a goblin...and more! This Halloween-themed twist on the classic rhyme will delight and entertain all brave readers who dare to read it!





Also in the There Was an Old Lady series:




There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Ghost!
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Dragon!
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly!
and more!

Genres: Halloween, Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Holiday, Animals, Poetry

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tried and true formula done with Halloween critters.

Won't someone PLEASE get this woman into counseling for her eating disorder?

[Laetitia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to start off by clarifying that I mostly dislike seasonal books. Halloween-themed baby/children's books, for example, are ridiculous. And I don't mean Goosebumps or Scary Stories, I mean the books that (sometimes literally) scream Halloween at you.

For instance... this book. What is the point? It starts off really well. This old lady swallows all these typical Halloween creatures like a ghost or a goblin. The build-up is so intense and so funny and exciting. It isn't too bad. I almost change my mind about Halloween-themed books.

Well, all she does is yell "Trick or Treat" at the end. And that's it. There is no point to the story, no coherent ending. It makes you feel like the author had to use it somehow because of Halloween and all... and that's why I loathe Halloween-themed books. It's like throwing a bunch of gross keywords into a cauldron, stirring it frantically, gulping down the whole green, gooey mess in one go, then projectile-vomiting it onto a blank page and THEN... selling the final, disgusting product as a book... Some kid's books treat children like they're complete idiots and I don't like that attitude. Just stick to the regular "The Old Lady Who Swallowed" books...

[Katelynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

IMO this series isn’t anything special, but it is a fun twist on the original song with the Halloween theme, and the kids love it.

[debbicat *made of stardust* · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all of the Old Lady books. Such fun!

[Holli · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did this book even have a point? The other books in this series the old lady, while gross, actually did something with what she swallowed. This one, there was no explanation of why she did it this time.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat!

I Picked Up This Book Because: Jaxson request.


Media Type: Hardback
Source: Jax’s Collection
Dates Read: 1/28/23
Stars: 3

The Story:

That old lady is crazy but Jax loved it so Auntie will read it as many times as necessary. Which is a lot. LOL

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book follows along with all of the other there was an old lady who swallowed stuff books. I think that the author is very creative on what she has the old lady swallowing next. The lines are always rhyming in a fun way that leaves the kids reading it in giggles. The illustrations are also very well done. This is also an AR book for anyone who might want to know. I would recommend this book to others.

[Steve Holden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another themed book I've had for a few years and notice a decent amount of interest in it from my class during October. It's a fun, sing-song book in a series that most are familiar with and love to look at. I prefer read alouds where I can offer expression and voices, staying away from the songs with the voice I'm blessed with!

[pegussy pittman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my mercy this might just be the best book I’ve ever read. And to think it all started with a bat!!! Ngl the ghost kinda caught me off guard a little. But wow was the plot twist at the end a crazy one. Who knew she only ate all those things just to say “Trick-or-Treat!”🤭❤️🫦💅🏼😫 (Overall 5/5 ⭐️)

[Sarah Kercsmar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bedtime story !

[Yuliana Rueda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the wordplay

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series invented wordplay. Still fun and definitely improves based on the enthusiasm of whoever's reading it.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only for the entertainment value for littles, illustrations, and ease of reading on repeat do I give this 4 stars.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute Halloween read aloud for storytime with a cute ending.

[Set · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations were okay and the story follows the same path as There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a fly!

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike the last time I read a book from this series, this one wasn't so bad. It was mediocre and the plot followed basically the same format as the others of the song although replacing all the items with more of a Halloween-type theme instead although in this case the cat wasn't black but one of your normal tiger tabby.

The words are easy-to-read while still following the rhyming format so young readers will enjoy the read, especially if adults may end up helping them along. After probably the second or third read they may have it memorized or at least the parts where they can act out such as the howling (why she howls after swallowing an owl I don't know why).

The illustrations are rather decent although not something special to write home about. All in all it was rather decent while may be better received by adults who are around children more or for that matter children themselves.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story with an unusual take on the "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly" story and one in a series by this author/illustrator team.

This one is a fun story to read aloud with children, especially during Halloween. Great illustrations, too! We've read this one a couple of times.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read for around Halloween. I always like to implement a sequencing activity with these books. The students love to interact while I read the story aloud to the class. I created an old lady made out of form board that I can use when reading these stories.

[Samantha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I despise these Old Lady Swallowing books. I don't approve of cannibalism, and that is a very bad trick for Halloween. I would normally let whimsical things pass in children's books, but I can not for any reason, let these books slide. >_>

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 2 out of 5]

I imagine this book is much more enjoyable when read out loud. I found myself skipping pages of prose that had already been repeated. The illustrations were ok, but what really threw me was the ending - very abrupt and didn't fit the rhyme scheme.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't like this old lady swallows edition and I'm a big fan of the series. Usually there is something good that comes out at the end but in this one it's just trick or treat which didn't excite me. But those who like the series might still find it fun.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title is a fun Halloween verison of the old familiar, There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Bat is an exceptionally great book for beginner readers, because it will keep readers engaged with what they are reading with a fun story of an old lady who swallows a bunch of animals. The old lady first starts by swallowing a bat and than swallows a series of other animals including; an owl, a cat, a ghost, a goblin, some bones, and a wizard. There are many characters pertaining to this book, unfortunately they are not very well described except each animal, object, or person the old lady swallowed was for a reason. For example the old lady swallowed the owl to hush the bat, and she swallowed the cat to chase the owl who is suppose to hush the bat. The illustrations within the book are very cartoonish and very colorful which many children will love and won't be able to take their eyes off this amazing fun Halloween book. I really like this book because of the simplicity of it and that it is a fun way to tie in Halloween into a book. I kind of dislike the book just a little bit, because there is a fun story to it but there really is not a lesson within the book itself, however you could still make a lesson with the book. For example If I was a classroom teacher I could use this book for lower grades and have students practice sequencing of events within the book. So students would have to pay attention and recall on their knowledge of what they have just read to list what the old lady swallowed first and last. I really do love this book, I remember having this book read to me when I was in elementary school and I absolutely loved it because when I was a little kid I got excited over any simple book I could read by myself and understand on my own.

[Elizabeth Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

“There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat” is a fictional, series book organized as a poem and is about an old lady who swallows a living bat, followed by an owl along with many other animals and creatures to accompany the animal that she swallowed prior. The whole book repeats the same question at the end of each page that says, “I don’t know why she swallowed a bat, imagine that.” Throughout this book, every character that the old lady swallows is related to a Halloween character, which portrays an image that this book is meant to be read around Halloween time. This story ends when the old lady belches to finish off her meal that consisted of many different Halloween related characters.

The theme of “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat” relates to being silly and having fun. The entire story line of this book is to put a fun twist on Halloween related books, and so that children can have a fun book to read.

I personally loved this story as a child and enjoyed reading it as an adult as well. The story is very entertaining and an overall fun read, especially for children who enjoy Halloween.

I would recommend this story to younger children who are not experienced readers, since this is a book geared towards younger audiences. This book also gives off a fun and interesting way of looking at Halloween and can allow students who are not as interested in this topic to have a fun read as well. I also found the illustrations to be intriguing and could help young, unexperienced students understand what is happening within the book without actually reading.

[Emily Costella · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a super cute book and a nice easy read. It is about an old lady who keeps swallowing animals. She first begins by swallowing a fly, and then one animal after another is swallowed to catch the previous. Each animal comes with a cute little rhyme as well. The story is short enough to keep the children's attention, as well as the pictures will keep them engaged with the story as well.
I think this book would be a good book to teach what a rhyming word is to students in first or second grade. This story can be used to introduce what a rhyming word is and point out all of the words that sound the same. This book can also be used as an assessment tool to help see if students are actually understanding what rhyming means and how it works. This book provides many different sounds of rhyming and different patterns, so I think it could really help get the point across to children, as well as letting them have fun with a silly story. I would give this story four stars because it is a great book and a fun read, but could get a little repetitive for the children if not read properly.

[Mikayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I own at least six of the books in this series and I absolutely love them! They offer a different book for every season and almost every holiday, this one is perfect for Halloween. The old lady must be very hungry to go around eating all these different objects! This book starts with the old lady swallowing a bat, then an owl to shush the bat, then a cat to chase around the owl and so on. I find these books to be a very fun story time book, it offers students the chance to guess what is likely to come next. I think this book could be used in the class as a fun story on halloween or as a story to give students an idea of how to create their own "there was an old lady who swallowed a __" book! I think in my future classroom I would love to have my students create their own story following this same story line.

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate this series for a couple reasons: one being the repetition of words and word play with a weird theme that makes it memorable to my preschooler. Keeps him engaged, helps him recognize and sound out simple 3 letter words like cat, bat, owl.

Maybe it’s my worried mom brain but I cannot for the life of me understand why she swallows all these things- the first time I read this series I had wondered if my then toddler would think it’s okay to swallow things like leaves and ropes 😳 This one is more silly things like ghost and goblins and other creatures but usually it builds up to a purpose (like building a scarecrow in the fall one) but this one ends with her shouting “Happy Halloween!” and it didn’t make sense.

I also don’t think it’s a particularly “pretty” book as far as illustrations go but it’s a decent themed addition to our Halloween #bookshelfie.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't a fan of the book, "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves," but since Gabby had me read it 3 times in one week, I figured there was something about it that she really liked, so I looked on Amazon for some similar stories that we could read together.

I found out that there are a *lot* of these books! Since Gabby loves Halloween stories, I picked this one. Before we even started, she said, "I bet she eats a ghost!" She was also interested to see what the Old Lady would make, since in the Leaves story, she ends up sneezing out a scarecrow. In this one, what comes out is Halloween, which was a little too abstract for Gabby, but cute nonetheless.

I would recommend this one, if you are new to the Old Lady Who Swallowed... series.

[Meghan Hardy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of a crazy old lady who swallows a bat and we have no idea why. She then proceeds to swallow many other animals, things, and people to try and some the others. She eventually swallows the right person to make everything come out!

I have always loved this book! I think it is so fun and quirky and really makes kids laugh. I love the way each thing she swallows is supposed to catch, quiet, or scare the thing that she swallowed before.

A good book for Halloween, you could read it at the class Halloween party and then talk about what the kids are gonna dress up as then go and carve pumpkins. They could write what other things she might swallow next. The kids could rewrite the story for a different holiday. Ask "Do you think a person could actually swallow these things?".

[Blake Scofield · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was an old lady who swallowed a bat is a picture book that has a series of events where she eats different animals and fictional characters to catch anther. She first eats a bat and then a cat. This book is easy to read as it has a steady flow to it. You may recognize the name because it is much like there was an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I read this book to a group of peers and it was really fun to interact with the book. I am sure reading it to a group of actual students would be much more fun as they would really enjoy reading such a silly book.
I would recommend this book to any student from kindergarten to second grade as long as they like fantasy's. I cant see many young student s not liking a book like this as it is funny and a good book to read around Halloween.