Simple-seeming story about what happens to a wandering housefly when it gets sucked into a vacuum cleaner. I didn’t realize until I was well into the middle of this book that it’s about the stages of grief- in this case, precipitated by an overwhelming life-changing event. I thought it was very well-presented, without the metaphors being overly done. Subtle enough that a child might just enjoy the story for its own face value, not realizing what they’re learning about handling emotions. The packaging on different items in the background, makes it clear what it’s all about- and I thought that was very cleverly done. I was chuckling at their initial presentation with slightly sarcastic labeling details (see the pics) and then nodding sagely at the later iterations.
Love the textured quality of the illustrations, and how you see the fly rearrange and use all the elements around him in the vacuum bag during his entrapment. Differently in each picture spread. A lot of fun just to examine that. Have to look for more by this author/illustrator. She wrote the Scaredy Squirrel books, which I’ve known about but never read actually myself.
Also, there’s a side narrative of sorts, what the family dog does when the bug is in the vacuum. He lost something too, and responds accordingly. I thought that was a nice extra touch.
Borrowed from the public library.
2 Responses
I like the way the messages fit in with the art of the products, like if you didn’t read and just glanced at them, you wouldn’t even notice they were there.
Yes! Those details were so great.