#17 – There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Chick

Written by: Lucille Colandro

Illustrated by: Jared Lee

Scholastic

2009

30 Pages

Traditional Literature

            This story is based off of the classic There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. This story is created to celebrate Easter. The old lady swallows a chick, straw, egg, candy, basket, bow, and everything to create the perfect Easter gift. Then at the end the old lady gets so full she can’t take in anymore. The stuffed old lady runs into the famous Easter Rabbit and spits up the fixed Easter basket. Children will love this story and its fun rhymes.

            The illustrations look like they were done with watercolor, and the outlines look like they are done with pen. The outlines are very chaotic and scribbled. It matches the craziness of the story. The art is very simple and most of the illustrations are contained within a pastel border. The colors used in the pictures are all light pastel shades. They flow with the theme of spring and Easter. A lot of texture is created in the pictures. Shading, grass, and hair are created with scribbled, messy lines. The text ranges from formal to informal.

            This book is great for a younger elementary classroom library. I would use this book as a read-aloud around Easter time. The students could do a writing activity to go along with it. This is also a great book for a lesson on sequencing. Students could cut-out and sequence the events that happened in the story. Then, they could glue the events in order on a picture of the old lady’s stomach.