The Flea's Sneeze

by Lynn Downey, Karla Firehammer (Illustrator)

On a dark, dark night
On an old, old farm
In a rickety, crickety
Tumbledown barn,
Everyone slept peacefully-
But not the flea . . .

A delightfully silly barnyard tale-now in paperback

What happens when a flea gets a bad case of the sniffles? Utter pandemonium in the barnyard! This rollicking picture book follows a lovable flea and his exceptional sneeze through the mayhem. Before the night is over, every animal-from the mouse to the cow-has something to say. Will the animals ever fall back to sleep?

Lynn Downey's quirky text and Karla Firehammer's charming pictures make this a winning story for preschool children.

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

32 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2000

Reviews

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for library story times! Very funny, lots of repetition and opportunities for audience participation.

[Regina Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Text-to-Text

This book reminds me of the book "Roar of A Snore" because in both books, the main character has a hard time sleeping because someone is snoring. In "The Flea's Sneeze" the flea was having a hard time sleeping because he had a cold, and he eventually woke everyone up. similar to Roar of A Snore. the main character in that book couldn't sleep because someone was snoring and he eventually woke everyone up as well. In the end of these books everyone eventually went back to sleep... at least we think

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Could work in preschool storytime; fits the "sneeze" theme I'm going for. But not sure how well the kids will connect with it. Same, repetitive phrase, but there's too much text for them to join in. Maybe if I point out the animals moving around in their sleep. Will put on display and have ready for filler if needed.

4/3/13 & 4/4/13 Filler was needed on both days. I think this worked better on the second day with the extremely tiny group. The first day I told them to watch for the animals to move. They saw it, but that didn't help draw them in. So on the second day, I took the time to point out the animals or have them tell me who was where. That got them noticing how much the animals moved. So by the time the sneeze woke the animals up, the Thu. group was able to see the humor in all the chaos.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very similar in theme to The Napping House. As such, I can't help but compare the two. And when I do, this one is definitely the loser.

It's not really such a bad book, I guess. The repetitive rhymes are a little long. There are a few non sequiturs - the sneeze wakes them up, and then the bat is baffled so his eyes turn blue? It reminds the frog of his old nephew? (Worse, this is clearly just to fit the -oo rhyme scheme, meaning you have to say "old nephEW" with the stress on the last syllable.) In some books this randomness is quirky and fun. In this one, it just hits me as weird and nonsensical.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a great story for kids. My 3 year old loves it. Not too short or too long - perfect length to keep him engaged. I love this story.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute and decent children's story that can basically be summed up as "diet Dr. Seuss" due to its heavy rhyming scheme and repetition.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful rhyming tale. The animals are all sleep in the barn, until the poor flea gets a cold. No one seems to care he has the sniffles. But once the flea sneezes the whole barn goes crazy. Finally, the flea falls asleep... but guess who caught the cold now?

teaching application- A flannel board set of animals for this story would work great. The children can count, sort by rhyme , or put in alphabetical order.

[Shannon M · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Flea's Sneeze is a cute book that reinforces rhyme, and repetition. It's a great book for beginner readers to practice sight words, decoding, and inflectional endings with the help of a parent, teacher, sibling, or friend. The author surprises the reader in the middle of the book, and by the end you can see a repeating pattern developing. The illustrations are full of expression and keep the reader engaged.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

The memories and cheer that this book brings to my soul is so warming it makes me smile as I write this review.. :) My now, almost 18 year old and 16 year old niece were in love with this book from the first page. Watching them and my sister act out the noises and scenes page after page makes me wish that children never grew up. If you want to smile and watch people you love smile, grab this book and hold it tight.

[Adriana Palencia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. It is very similar to the sleeping house. I enjoyed the pictures because of the soft colors. The soft colors brought gave the pictures a calm appeal. The little flea sneezes, and it causes a whole commotion. This book is packed with rhyming words. The book repeats a few phrases that are simple enough for readers to remember.

[Jessie Polson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a super cute book, however it seemed a little repetitive. The book discusses a flea who is sick, and everyone in his barn is asleep so no one can help him get a tissue! Eventually he is given a tissue, after he has awoke everyone in the barn! This book is cute, and ends with the Pig getting sick just as the flea was!

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this was a cute book. The illustrations were very nice and were spot on. There was repetition in the book that my second graders pointed out that didn't quite make sense. They did enjoy the story overall. This is also an AR book for anyone who might want to know. I would recommend this book to others.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be good for kids when learning animals. The book talks about different animals and it would be good to teach them. It would be a good book to read during winter months because it's talking about animals being sick.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute storybook with repeatative lines on every other page would help a learning reader with their self esteem. As once they got the first page down then they could 'read' the other pages that it's repeating the same thing. Lots of farm animals

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silly story about a flea waking up the whole barn with his sneeze. There are a few rhymes that seem forced, but outside of that it's fun and flows. The illustrations are cute and add to the silliness

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute predictable book about a little flea who has the cold and just needs a Kleenex. But no one can hear him, the dog, the cat, the frog etc. etc. etc.

Toddlers will enjoy this great read a loud for someone ready to do some voices.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story but when reading it to my child I found myself skipping over some of the repetition. However the idea of a bug and animals sneezing was humorous to my child and they enjoyed the story.

[Robby Owen]

This is another barn animal book that is a little bit different than the usual animal book. This one focuses more on a character that you would not normally hear about. It also displays the character trying to be polite towards the other animals that it is with.

[Paige Henne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book the illustrations are very cute and engaging. The book is about a flea who is sick, but everyone in his barn is asleep so no one can get him a tissue. At the end of the book the flea gets his tissue but he has to wake up everyone in the barn.

[Miss Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about a group of farm animals that are all sleeping. All of them except for the flea. Poor flea has a sniffle and a cough. All is well until the flea sneezes and wakes up all the other animals. It is similar to the Napping House but in a barn setting.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for young readers. A full circle story structure with fun rhymes and charming illustrations!

[Olivia S · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't bother reading all of this. Way too much repetition. I know kids like repetition, but come on. Also the rhyme is forced at times. Meh, don't bother with.

[Naomi Rivera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rhyming and repetition engages children.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable - this will make a great read aloud!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

AR 2.5

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely a funny and silly barnyard tale. It is about a flea that gets the sniffles in the middle of the night and then the barn animals go crazy. Kids will definitely love the lighthearted silliness and craziness in the story. Genre fantasy fiction

[Cara Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The repetitive language and rhyming words kept my kids' attention, probably a little more so than the story line about a flea with a cold. Cute premise.

[Kristien Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Daughter enjoyed this book a lot. Especially the pictures of the cat. I had a fun time reading this rhyming story.

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is okay. It’s a rhyming book with a lot of repetition. I like the illustrations. The owl and the flea are the cutest.

[Ernest Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, some rhyming patterns, fun vocabulary.