There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books! with read along CD

There Was an Old Lady

by Lucille Colandro

There was an old lady who's ready for school!

That lovely old lady has returned just in time for the first day of school. Now she's swallowing items to make the very best of her first day back. And just in time for the bus...

With rhyming text and funny illustrations, this lively version of the classic song will appeal to young readers with every turn of the page--a fun story for the first day of school!

Genres: Picture Books, School, Childrens, Fiction, Poetry, Fantasy, Humor

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Megan Moriarty · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is another spin off of the original story "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". The book starts off with the old lady swallowing some books. It continues with her swallowing all different kinds of school supplies. At the end, she swallows a backpack. When the children come around the corner in the school bus, she lets out a cheer and out pops the backpack. This book is intended for younger elementary students around kindergarten or first grade. This book is a good fit for them because it introduces the concept of patterns. This is a good book to read to students on the first day of school. I can have my students help me read it by having them say along with me what the old lady swallowed next in the pattern. Then, I could introduce the original "There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly" book and sing the song that goes along with it.

Colandro, L., & Lee, J. D. (2012). There was an old lady who swallowed some books!. New York: Scholastic Books.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kinda lame according to my child....and yeah I agree.

[Diana S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny book! 😄

[Jennifer Peterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is one of numerous stories in the "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed..." series. I am normally a big fan of these, but I must admit, this one was not my favorite. In the story, the old lady swallows school supplies one by one and eventually cheers and pops out a brand-new backpack. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't enjoy this as much as the others in the series. It just didn't seem to flow as well. And as my son quickly pointed out, "the old lady didn't even swallow any straps to pop out that kind of backpack." Lucille Colandro has done, better. But the pictures and the silly story still manage to provide fun along the way.

This book would be best suited for younger readers, grades 1st through 3rd and could be used as an introduction to the new school year.

Colandro, L., & Lee, J. D. (2012). There was an old lady who swallowed some books!. New York: Scholastic Books.

[Carol Royce Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some authors I want to tell - "please stop," and after reading this book, I'm adding this author to the list. These "There was an Old Lady..." stories are getting old, and this one I found pretty contrived. The rhymes just didn't work well, and I don't see kids getting into it like the original. Sorry. It just doesn't pass the grade.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for something...more.

[Christopher Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute children's book.

[Mimi.Y · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s about that time for kids to go back to school!! So of course she had to swallow all the necessary things a student need for school.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book employs rhyme and repetition to create a read for the first day of school. Unfortunately the final pages did not continue the repetition. The book is the first of several school-related items she swallows. The whimsical illustrations are the book's strongest feature. Young children will probably enjoy it, but it's a story they will not wish to repeat often.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting spin on a childhood favorite.

[Krista]

This rendition was so bonkers that I needed to review it. This old lady just keeps on glorifying swallowing random objects. Get her an episode on My Strange Addictions ASAP

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The amazing old lady who swallows strange objects is back! This time she swallows supplies, just in time for school.

Colandro and Lee have teamed up to write many books about this strange old lady. Readers can enjoy a wide range of topics from seasons to holidays. They are entertaining and enjoyable to sing or read aloud.

Sadly, their newest book is not a favorite for me. I was hoping it had a library theme, but it was a school theme. The school supplies were books, pens, pencil case, ruler, (file) folder, chalk, and a bag. It's a good (and silly) book for a school theme story time, but I would recommend their other stories for readers who thrive on musical books.

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Natalie Heavrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the only other book I have read in the series besides the original "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." I thought it was pretty good, but didn't seem to flow together well enough to sing as a song. Yet, it would give the children some exposure to rhyming and patterns. I think they would enjoy it because it is so silly for a woman to swallow school supplies. On the last page, it says "Have a great school year!" It would be a fun book to read on the first day.

[Jackie Douthat]

This is a great book with sequencing! In the classroom this would be a great book to let the kids act out. Using props, and reading the story.

[Hapzydeco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non-existing rhyming. Unique, but too quirky. The ending does provide a needed school accessory for today’s student.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute for the beginning of school.

[Evan Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books!" was a beloved classic in my wife's family during her childhood! This book is crafted to amuse and captivate young readers with its funny and repetitive plot. It employs rhyme, rhythm, and a cumulative storytelling approach to generate excitement while aiding children in developing essential early literacy skills such as sequencing, predicting, and vocabulary. Additionally, it serves as a delightful back-to-school themed tale that can ignite discussions about the various items featured in the book and their relevance to school life. My kids (ages 3, 6, and 8) find it absolutely hilarious and a blast to read. As for me, it not only introduces the aforementioned concepts but also facilitates the introduction of correlations, all while featuring simple yet uniquely low-stimulus illustrations that are guaranteed to keep the kids engaged with the story.

[Alexa]

All of the"There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed.." help children learn about rhyming, sequencing, and problem solving. After reading this book with students I would plan an activity to focus on the sequencing of the book. A good activity to do is have a work sheet with the old lady and all of the things she swallowed throughout the book. I would start by asking, "what did the old lady swallow first?" and have students find the picture of the first object and glue it in the old lady's stomach. I would continue this activity and go through every object the old lady swallowed in order. This is a good exercise to work on memory with students.

[McKenzie Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-CycleNot as good as some of the other There Was an Old Lady books, but it was still entertaining. The book did not quite flow as nicely as the other books. There were a few verses that just didn't sound quite right, like there were too many or too few syllables in the line. But the book was fun and silly. Jared Lee's pictures are still phenomenal, as always. And I did enjoy the ending. A fun book to get ready for back-to-school season.

[Clint Read-Brittian · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I saw this in Walmart and I read it with one of my best friends and we were like wtf?! when we saw the title. I found this sooo cute and adorable! This gave me Dr. Seuss vibes, more importantly Green Eggs and Ham. I also remember the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly books as well. I would definitely recommend these to parents to read to kids. However the only negative I can see with this book is some kids might try and swallow school supplies, so take that into consideration when reading it to kids. :)

[Victoria Elias · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has very unique pattern to it. There is an old lady who first started off by swallowing a book and then she goes to swallow more things to go with the thing she swallowed before. It repeats its self and always goes back to saying "I don't know why she swallowed the books, but she didn't get any looks." After she swallows the new thing, the illustrations are inside of her stomach of the things she swallowed before and it repeats until the end, she threw up a backpack full of the things she swallowed for the new school year!

[Ellee Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copyright date: 2012
Star rating: 3
Award: N/A
Genre: Children's lit
Summary w/ themes: This book is about an old lady who swallowed a book, along with a multitude of other things.
Use for future classroom: The end of the book says to "have a great school year!" so this could be a fun first day of school book to read since many kids like this series.
Thoughts of book: I thought this book was okay, it definitely wasn't as good as I remember when I was a kid but I can still see the humor in it.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Review: I used to read all these Old Lady Who Swallowed . . . books to Munchkin when he was little and came across this one when clearing out the shelves. I honestly think these books got weirder and weirder as they went on. Munchkin still gets a laugh out of them but this one didn't roll off the tongue the way previous books in the series did. On top of that the ending really didn't make a whole lot of sense. I guess it is time for us to move on from these books.

[Madeline Volkman · Rating 4 out of 5]

These were some of my favorite books to read when I was younger. This book is good for children because it incorporates rhyming and they can also start to read the book with you because it repeats a lot, and because it is a silly book. It also shows the roles of each thing she swallows so that is good for children to see and learn about.

[AMY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another cute version of the basic story. This time the lady keeps swallowing things related to school supplies to make a surprise later on. There is always a nice twist at the end of this series. Whimsical and colorful illustrations will keep kids laughing. A great read-aloud book for younger children. Highly recommended for Grades K-2.

[Ashlee Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books is a book about an old lady swallowing different school supplies. I believe children would enjoy reading this book because children will find it amusing and can help children learn about retell. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Books is a great book to read on the first day of school.

[Paige Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a series that I have loved since I was in Elementary school. "There was an old lady who..." books will never get old. I actually found this one at the daycare I work at and will be sharing it in class!

[Kayla DeRemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a fun read! In this story, an old swallows some books that leads her to swallow many other things. The old lady's craziness makes children laugh, and excited to see what she will swallow next. I suggest this book, along with all the other books by this author.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seemed like a cute idea, but something was lacking. The pictures weren’t bad, but the whole rhyme scheme just seemed off. I loved There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, but this spin off did not measure up at all. I’m not even sure young children would think it was that funny.

[Mary Langer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for a read-aloud and for the beginning of a year. The old lady not only swallows books but objects related to school and books like rulers and folders. Kids and adults will enjoy the silliness and maybe learn some new vocabulary with words like "balk."...