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Fiction - Holidays & Festivals, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous
I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie by Alison Jackson β€” book cover

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie

by Alison Jackson, Judy Schachner
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Overview

I know an old lady who swallowed a pie, a Thanksgiving pie, which was really too dry.

And with that the feast begins! After the pie the old lady swallows a whole squash, all of the salad, and the entire turkey! As Mother and Father watch in shock, the two children are delighted to see the old lady growing fatter and fatter. And, in the end, the old lady makes a surprising and humorous contribution to the holiday festivities.

"Jackson draws on some traditional Thanksgiving foods to give a familiar rhyme new zing. Schachner's exuberant, cartoon-style illustrations . . . catch the comedy splendidly!" (Booklist)

Synopsis

I know an old lady who swallowed a pie, a Thanksgiving pie, which was really too dry.

And with that the feast begins! After the pie the old lady swallows a whole squash, all of the salad, and the entire turkey! As Mother and Father watch in shock, the two children are delighted to see the old lady growing fatter and fatter. And, in the end, the old lady makes a surprising and humorous contribution to the holiday festivities.

"Jackson draws on some traditional Thanksgiving foods to give a familiar rhyme new zing. Schachner's exuberant, cartoon-style illustrations . . . catch the comedy splendidly!" (Booklist)

Publishers Weekly

The illustrations freshen up the old cumulative chestnut. "The old lady herself is a tour de force of visual slapstick," wrote PW. "Even the typography joins the fun." Ages 3-8. (Sept.)

About the Author, Alison Jackson

Alison Jackson lives in Orlando, Florida.

Judy Schachner lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

The illustrations freshen up the old cumulative chestnut. "The old lady herself is a tour de force of visual slapstick," wrote PW. "Even the typography joins the fun." Ages 3-8. (Sept.)

Children's Literature - Susie Wilde

This classic childhood song has been transformed into Thanksgiving hilarity. A little old lady gulps down a dry pie, swills cider which "rumbled and mumbled and grumbled" inside her. That is only the beginning. Hysterics and hysteria mount as Jackson's funny words and Schachner's silly illustrations show the old lady growing as big as a Thanksgiving Day float. They have taken a familiar favorite and given it new expression.

Children's Literature - Jan Lieberman

I know an old lady who swallowed a pie, but that pie was really too dry. Perhaps she'll die. The family is aghast at this old lady with the voracious appetite. The pie is eaten before she can give it to her hosts. She gulps down cider that rumbled and grumbled and tickled inside her. Then come the rolls, squash, salad, turkey, even the pot, and a gigantic ten-layer cake. What's to become of her? Suffice it to say that she balloons up to float over the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

School Library Journal

PreS-K--In a holiday version of a familiar children's song, an old lady swallows a dry Thanksgiving pie and a succession of other foods, beginning with an entire jug of cider to moisten the pie. Although the cider rumbles and grumbles agreeably inside her, the other foods are not related. The woman swallows a salad to go with a squash, a pot to go with a turkey, and a 10-layer cake to go with the pot. While no one can accuse the original "I Know an Old Lady" of making sense, the animals devoured increase in size each time and fit into a more-or-less logical food chain. Jackson's version is redeemed, however, by the fun of rhymes such as "Her future looked murky, after that turkey" and an ending that shows the old lady as a giant balloon in a Thanksgiving Parade as she finally says, "I'm full." Schachner's watercolor illustrations are absolutely delightful. Children will find lots to examine and enjoy in these expressive pictures, particularly the repeated appearances of the woman's fluffy white cat.--Jackie Hechtkopf, Talent House School, Fairfax, VA

Book Details

Published
September 1, 2002
Publisher
Penguin Group (USA)
Pages
32
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780140565959

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