Thirteen flies become tasty snacks in this clever reverse counting book about subtraction, predators, and prey.
Sue Heavenrich has eaten flies--small ones and mostly by accident.
She has also done research on ants, bees, and spiders, and taught
cockroaches how to run mazes. After earning her MS in biology and
teaching high-school science, Sue began writing about science and
nature in magazines, newspapers, and blogs. She is the author of
several books, including Diet for a Changing Planet- Food for
Thought, a book for teens about how to save the world by eating
bugs, weeds, and invasive species.
David Clark is the illustrator of many books for children,
including Never Insult a Killer Zucchini; What's for Dinner?
Quirky, Squirmy Poems from the Animal World; and the Just Like Us!
series. He is also the illustrator and co-creator of the syndicated
comic strip Barney & Clyde.
♦ Guess who’s coming to dinner? Well stocked with easy-to-digest
facts, from nature notes (“The frog closes its eyes and swallows,
using its eyeballs to push the fly down its throat”) to the
taxonomic names of the 13 different kinds of flies that Clark
renders with distinguishing details (and deservedly anxious
expressions) in his cartoon illustrations, this disquisition on
flies as food will draw swarms of young readers. Following a
countdown entrée in which the said baker’s dozen are, one by one,
gobbled up by predators ranging from birds, bats, and a fly-eating
fungus to an unwary skateboarder (gross but, claims Heavenrich,
“harmless”), subsequent courses dish up observations on the
insect’s importance as a food source, its real potential as a food
additive, its nutritional content (with a table modeled after the
one printed on cereal boxes), and a labeled chart of fly body
parts, from the “soft and chewy” abdomen to antennae (“high in
fiber”). Budding STEM-winders especially will relish meaty closing
lists of print and web resources. Amplify the buzz by pairing this
biological bounty with Brigit Heos’ introduction to another segment
of the life cycle, What to Expect When You’re Expecting Larvae,
illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch.
—Booklist, starred review
Counting insect corpses has never been so much fun. Thirteen
species of flies and gnats meet their untimely demises as they’re
devoured by amphibians, fish, birds, plants, other insects, and
more. The structure of the book is deceptively simple: Each doomed
insect is described by a single participle (which rhymes with the
participle that describes the next) along with a comical cartoon of
each fly’s passing. As each fly bites the dust, a small note
identifies the species by its common and scientific names. The plot
becomes more sophisticated with a brief paragraph that explains how
and why each fly was eaten. As there are 13 flies, the final death
doesn’t have a rhyme, but it discusses flies as food for humans
(with the assumption that readers do not belong to cultures that
currently include insects in their diets) and how food scientists
may be looking toward the insect world for alternate protein
sources. The format allows readers across different age ranges to
enjoy the book either for the simple rhymes (and visual zest) or
for the intriguing study of the food web. A select bibliography
includes books, websites, and news stories that will entice curious
readers looking to learn more. Fans of Ants Don’t Wear Pants!
(2019) and Kevin McCloskey’s other graphic novels will appreciate
the illustrations and humor of this unusual counting book.
Fly out and buy it.
—Kirkus Reviews
Thirteen short, rhyming answers are given to this question: How do
birds, fish, mammals, and insects capture and eat flies? Some of
these feeding methods are described as “zapped,” “wrapped,” and
“underground.” Each of these tactics is explained in a descriptive
paragraph of two or three sentences that centers on a specific
animal and how it eats flies. For example, a garden spider captures
a fly in its web, injects its prey with poison, and then wraps it
in silk so that it resembles a burrito. Each paragraph is
accompanied by a large illustration or two. These colorful
illustrations are clear, but often humorously exaggerated. The text
concludes that flies are a major food source for many animals.
Educators could use this book for multiple lessons. The rhyming
“ways” to eat a fly could be adopted for choral reading, with some
of the factual information also included. Children could discuss
how different animals capture and eat flies as food. VERDICT A
lighthearted nonfiction picture book that could easily be used with
young children in different ways.
—School Library Journal
There are 120,000 different kinds of flies, all of which have
predators ready to devour them. But before the flies go down the
hatch, they have to be caught, and that's the focus of this
humorous and informative look at food preparation on the fly. The
book does a countdown of thirteen different methods: frogs use
their tongues to zap them; crab spiders snatch them with their long
front legs; garden spiders employ a two-step process, first killing
flies with venom and then wrapping them up "like a burrito." Trout
wait until baby flies, or midges, hatch just above the water's
surface and then simply leap and gulp. Clark's bright, digitally
colored creatures, with exaggerated facial expressions, set the
tone; visual humor abounds, including hte recurring lineup of
different species of fly that decreases by one as the countdown
progresses. A witty text culminates with equally amusing back
matter, from a food label listing nutritional information (one
serving: 65-80 flies, "depending on species") that accompanies a
tongue-in-cheek guide to fine fly dining, to a diagram labeling the
edible parts of a fly. Appended with further reading and websites
for children and a bibliography of sources. Bon appetit!
—The Horn Book
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