Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780060001568]

Diary of a Fly

by

Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780060001568]

Book Review

Publishers Weekly :

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Starred Review. Cronin and Bliss follow up their bestselling Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider with a heroine so delightful it would be criminal to swat her. Fly, a purple girl with multifaceted green eyes, chronicles her childhood, from anxieties about the first day of school (June 7: What if I'm the only one who eats regurgitated food?... June 8: Everyone eats regurgitated food!) to family issues (July 23: I visited my aunt Rita today. She's been trapped on the wrong side of a screen for a week). Tips on flying, such as Leap backward when taking off, combine with grade-school concerns and problems of discipline. Fly's babysitter, a ladybug, can't manage Fly and her 327 brothers and sisters (Mom says we were a lot easier to watch before we grew heads), so she brings a hungry green frog and sits back to read Teen Bugs magazine. Because flies beat their wings 200 times per second, can see in all directions at once and have amazing aerial powers, Fly fantasizes about being a superhero, though her friend Spider notes, Superheroes bend steel with their bare hands. You eat horse manure with your feet. Bemused readers may be more inclined to agree with Worm, however, who reassures Fly that the world needs all kinds of heroes. Cronin's spot-on humor and Bliss's uproarious ink-and-watercolor panels make Fly—and this third outing in the series—both irresistible and undeniably super. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

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Syndetic Solutions - [Book Review for 9780060001568] Book Review
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School Library Journal :

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Starred Review. PreS-Gr 3—Fans of Diary of a Spider (2005) and Diary of a Worm (2003, both HarperCollins) will be thrilled with this latest mix of whimsy and scientific fact. Fly, a sassy insect with a red bow on her purple head, writes in her diary about her first-day-of-school worries (will everyone else eat regurgitated food?), the challenges of fly-school classes, a visit to her aunt who is stuck on the wrong side of a screen door, and playdates with her pals Worm and Spider. The ick factor is ramped up from the previous two books, which will delight buggy fans even more. Learning about the food chain according to Worm—an explanation illustrated by Spider's Grandfather holding a fork over Fly, as well as the ladybug babysitter's method of keeping a lid on mischief by bringing a frog along to keep order while she reads her Teen Bugs magazine—will have kids laughing out loud. Fly's dream of being a superhero and her doubts that she can be one is a feeling children will respond to—as well as Worm's encouragement when he tells her, "the world needs all kinds of heroes." As usual, the attention to detail (flies sitting on thumbtack seats at a toothpaste-box table in the cafeteria, Fly in her time-out is just glowing eyes on a two-page black spread) and a lively layout that has a comic-book vibe are sure to appeal. Hilarious.—Susan Moorhead, New Rochelle Public Library, NY

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