Frog and Fly: Six Slurpy Stories by Jeff Mack

Six very short stories about a frog and a fly are told here.  Done in comic panels, the stories are all simple and quite funny.  In each story, the frog meets a fly and ends up not really making friends but instead making lunch.  Each story is slightly different and filled with little puns.  The frog manages to cleverly lure the fly closer by talking with it, but eventually just slurps that fly right up.  The arc of the first two stories is very similar.  The third brings in ketchup and a burger.  The fourth has different animals shooing the fly away from them, until the frog welcomes the fly closer.  The fifth story has races between the frog and fly that the fly wins over and over again, until the final one.  The sixth story has the frog get his comeuppance much to the glee of the fly.  Slurp!

Mack has tapped right into the sense of humor of preschoolers with these stories.  The running gag of eating the fly makes the final story all the more satisfying with its twist.  This is the sort of book that my two sons would have loved at that age, laughing along with delight.  It’s one that reads aloud very nicely, and even better, gives you the opportunity to work on a fly voice and a frog ribbit.

Mack’s illustrations are simple and colorful.  The lines are crisp and clean, echoing the thickness of the font used for their dialogue.  They reflect the humor of the entire book, with silly grins and a big pink slurping tongue.

Sure to get laughs at preschool story time, this makes a silly addition to any story time on frogs or flies.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Philomel Books.