I do love Charlesbridge's nonfiction picture books. This one has all the things I like - creatures getting eaten, cool insects, and, although I often complain about rhyming text, I can get behind this rhythm!
The story begins with a spread of 13 varied flies "Big flies, small flies, fat flies, thinner. Yum! These flies are someone's dinner." On each blue-green spread a fly meets it's demise in a single, bold word, which rhymes with the following page. A longer paragraph describes the eaten and the eating in more detail. So Fly 13 is Zapped by a frog, Fly 12 is Wrapped by a spider. Common and scientific names of each fly are included as well. Bulbous-eyed birds, fish, and other insects attack their prey with gusto until the last three are liquefied (by a Venus flytrap), Zombified by a fungus, and number one, the Mediterranean fruit fly is eaten by mistake or baked in a cake! A final spread shows the next generation of fly food hatching and taking off.
Back matter includes more humorous information, including a tongue-in-cheek dining guide for an insectivore, "edible parts of a fly" and a bibliography and further reading section. This may not be the cup of tea for those with weak stomachs, but it's one I will thoroughly enjoy reading in story time and introducing to bug-loving kids.
Verdict: A unique, fun, and informative book. Highly recommended.
ISBN: 9781580898904; Published February 2021 by Charlesbridge; Purchased for the library
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