The Horn Book Guide

PICTURE BOOKS

Sloat, Teri

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Trout!

32 pp. | Holt | October, 1998 | Trade ISBN 0-8050-4294-6 $$15.95

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Reynold Ruffins. In this Pacific Northwest version of "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," an old woman swallows a trout, a salmon, a whale, and the ocean, among other things. With her skirt billowing around her immense stomach, this supernatural woman rises up into the sky until everything comes flowing back out. The paintings' bold, rich colors and patterns reflect the simple, curvilinear folk art of native cultures of the area.

Reviewer: Suzy Schmidt