Hi, Fly Guy! (Fly Guy #1): Hi, Fly Guy! Spiral-Bound | September 1, 2005

PWHI! FLY GUYAuthor: Arnold, Tedd Review Date: JULY 15, 2005Publisher:Cartwheel/Scholastic Pages: 32 Price (hardback): $5.99 Publication Date: 9/1/2005 0:00:00ISBN: 0-439-63903-4ISBN (hardback): 0-439-63903-4 Category: CHILDREN'SPest-or Pet? A fly changes some minds in this diminutive tale-first, by astounding the lad who captures him in a jar ("BUZZ!" "You know my name! You are the smartest pet in the world!"), then, thanks to some fancy flying, by convincing the lad's parents and ultimately even the judges of the Amazing Pet Show that he's more than just a nuisance. A pop-eyed, self-confident mite in Arnold's droll cartoon illustrations, Fly Guy's up to any challenge, whether it be eating a hot dog (well, most of it, anyway), or performing amazing aerial acrobatics; readers drawn by the flashy foil cover will stick around to applaud this unusually capable critter. Any similarity to Ezra Jack Keats's Pet Show! (1972) is surely coincidental. (Picture book. 6-8) KirkusHi! Fly GuyTedd Arnold. Scholastic/Cartwheel, $5.99 (32p) ISBN 0-439-63903-4A fly went flying," opens Arnold's (Parts) brief, playful tale, structured in three chapters. At the same time, "A boy went walking." The winged fellow is looking for food and the boy is searching for a critter for the upcoming Amazing Pet Show. The two equally and comically bug-eyed beings meet when the fly collides with the human hero's nose ("boink") and the lad captures it in a glass jar. After the infuriated insect stomps his foot and says, "Buzz!" the amazed boy replies, "You know my name! You are the smartest pet in the world!" Buzz shows his new pet, which he names Fly Guy, to his parents; his father announces that flies are pests and grabs a swatter-until the sly fly lands on Buzz's nose and calls him by name. In one of the book's funniest pictures, Fly Guy is dwarfed by the hot dog Buzz places in his jar, most of which he happily consumes. Though the pet show judges tell Buzz that flies don't qualify as pets, Fly Guy rises to the occasion and wows the judges with various feats, clinching the prize for smartest pet. Suitably wacky cartoon art accompanies the text, which is simple enough for beginning readers ready to soar to a chapter-book format. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)BCCBA fly out flying encounters a boy out looking for a pet, and it's a match made in early-reader heaven. The fly apparently knows the boy's name-Buzz-which endears the insect to his new master (and his skeptical parents). Buzz takes Fly Guy, as he's named his new pet, to the Amazing Pet Show, where clever Fly Guy wins over doubting judges with his ability to say his master's name and perform tricks. The story ends pretty abruptly, but this is aimed squarely at an audience with only slightly more reading stamina than the common housefly anyway; the controlled vocabulary (with a few more challenging words thrown in) and frequent repetition add to the ease of access. The look is edgy, especially the cover's motion-effect iridescent graphics, with the interior art sporting Arnold's trademark bulbous-eyed caricatures textured with hairy squiggles; Buzz, who has the stocky solidity of a trash can, is actually rather more taciturn than the hyper-expressive Fly Guy, whose antics steal the show. Novice readers, particularly those unmoved by cuddlier stories, will welcome the doriy wit of this oddball-pet saga. DSSLJ ARNOLD, Tedd. Hi! Fly Guy! illus. by author. 30p. CIP. Scholastic/Cartwheel. 2005. Tr $5.99. ISBN 0-439-63903-4. LC 2004020553. K-Gr 2-A boy goes out searching for a smart animal to take to "The Amazing Pet Show" and bumps into a fly that is intelligent enough to say the child's name, "Buzz." Although his parents and the judges feel at first that a fly is only a pest, not a pet, the insect puts on a performance that astounds them all and wins an award. The cartoon illustrations showing characters with exaggerated wide eyes are delightful, but the text is somewhat weak and disjointed.-Anne Knickerbocker, formerly at Cedar Brook Elementary School, Houston, TX