There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Mozzie

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Mozzie by P. Crumble, illustrated by Louis Shea (Scholastic Australia)
PB RRP $14.99
ISBN 978-1-74283-852-6
Reviewed by Jenny Heslop

‘There was an old lady who swallowed a mozzie,

I don’t know why she swallowed that mozzie ...

She’s gotta be Aussie!’

This Australian slant on the classic rhyme There Was An Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly provides this very amusing tale. A tough old lady swallows all sorts of Australian animals from the humble mozzie up to the mighty croc! At which point something’s got to happen to make her stop.

As a fan of both Shea and Crumble, I haven’t always loved the books in this series, but this one is really enjoyable. Crumble’s rhyme is smooth and the rhythm works really well. This makes it fun and easy to read aloud.

Shea’s unique bold and bright illustrations, along with his trademark expressive animals, are humorous without the tinge of darkness which appear in some of the other books in this series.

This is my favourite book in the series and well worth a look. Check out how the old lady manages to catch the dingo and the croc.

Young children will have a lot of fun with this book.