YOU CAN'T CATCH ME!

by Joanne Oppenheim ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1986

A devilishly pesky fly makes a nuisance of himself on a farm, but his boastful insouciance is no help when, at last asleep, he is gobbled up by the turtle whose shell he mistook for a rock. The fly bothers a massive cow, a goat, a horse, a fox, a bear, pigs and rams; all his victims are powerless to eradicate the pest. There is humor in the fly's taunting, and the jet-stream he leaves behind helps to pinpoint him on every page, Shachat's illustrations, in smoky pastel shades, are lively and playful, and the page design is inventively varied, from single to double spreads, bordered to borderless drawings. The book's only flaw is that the fly seems a trickster and a rogue, but is drawn with such affectionate humor that one begins to root for him. His natural though untimely end may not seem in keeping with the light touch of the artwork. The story, however, has the rolling accumulative power of an old tale like The Gingerbread Boy or There Was an Old Woman who Swallowed a Fly. The rhymes are deft and simple; small listeners will chime in on the refrain: ""'No matter how hard you try try try you can't catch me!' called the pesky black fly.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1986

Categories: CHILDREN'S