There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey!

There Was an Old Lady

by Lucille Colandro, Jared D. Lee (Illustrator)

The old lady is at it again, and this time she's swallowing a Turkey... she's always been quirky!

You won't believe why this old lady swallowed a turkey, a ball, a hat, a balloon, a boat, some wheels, and a horn of plenty!

Read this book and find out why!

Genres: Thanksgiving, Picture Books, Holiday, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Storytime

32 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2016

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't invite this old lady to Thanksgiving dinner! But a great holiday read for the children on that day with a big helping of pumpkin pie! This is just the kind of book that can become 'generational' as far as a families holiday reading list; children reading this book to their children as the years go by...lots of good memories!

[La Coccinelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I get that this is based on that poem about the old lady who swallowed a fly. But this is just bad. And the old lady, with her hinged jaw that she uses to gobble up (heh) a live turkey is just disturbing. She swallows turkeys and boats and balloons and hats because she's "quirky"? It sounds to me like the old lady has pica, and she really should get that checked out.

And there's a whole series of these books? Yikes. I wasn't that impressed with what I saw here. A ball, a hat, and wheels aren't exactly interesting things to swallow, and I couldn't figure out how they were even connected at first. She eventually regurgitates them all to make a parade float, but... Actually, no. Just no. This is ridiculously stupid.

If you like watching old people swallow things and then barf them back up, you might like this book. Otherwise, you probably won't.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars!

These books are super fun and kids love them! This lady is always swallowing something- its really weird and disturbing to be honest, but the kids GOBBLE it up and laugh! Its a great interactive read to get them excited for the holidays :P

[Cyndi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with my granddaughter. Her favorite thing was the old lady swallowing the turkey, when she swallowed the horn of plenty, and when she wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Day.


I enjoyed this one. The repetition and the sheer outrageousness made it worth the effort. Aniyah is just learning to use excitement in her voice as she reads aloud, this gave her some good practice.

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The worst one yet.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, I didn't think to use "quirky" to rhyme with "turkey." Secondly, I love that "quirky" was used in this book since it is not regularly used in children's books. Vocab word win!!

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of belly-busting, Thanksgiving day shenanigans, and a fun twist at the end.

Way better than green bean casserole.

[Lauren]

This fun book is full of quirkiness! The old lady is surly one to read about! She swallows a turkey, hat, football, and more! It’s a fun rhyming holiday book that will have everyone reading along!
Pre-k-2nd grade
More for entertainment
Any student would benefit from this book
Not for small groups
Better if read to the whole class
Similar books would be There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly
Audio books available

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun entry in this series by Colandro.

[Susan Crowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book! Corbin and I really enjoyed it.

[Shana Karnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great Thanksgiving laugh I the midst of our stressful move!

[Jennifer Margeson · Rating 3 out of 5]

i thought this one was.a stretch - I prefer others.in the series to Turkey

[Set · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for some Thanksgiving fun with the silly rhymes of a lady who swallowed a turkey. She swallowed the horn of plenty and wished us a happy thanksgiving.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t get it. I loved the old lady who swallowed a fly when I was kid, this was nothing like that.

[Harlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s officially thanksgiving month!

[Kendall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Might appreciate it more during Thanksgiving, I suppose.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just as weird and obnoxious as the first few. I love every second of it.

[enlam]

get SO ready for the influx of themed picture books you'll be seeing from me now that I'm a children's librarian

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synopsis: "The old lady is at it again, and this time she's swallowing a Turkey . . . she's always been quirky!

You won't believe why this old lady swallowed
a turkey, a ball, a hat, a balloon, a boat, some wheels, and
a horn of plenty!

Read this book and find out why!"

My Review: Munchkin loves the Old Lady books and while they don't have quite the same rhythm as the original song they are still really fun for young readers. This is a great one for this Thanksgiving, the old lady swallows a lot of things that center around Thanksgiving traditions. Of course it is also lots of fun and silly to read, Munchkin loves the 'She has always been quirky' part and insists it is his line to say.

[AMY · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun rhyming story with nice illustrations. It is a bit silly and outrageous at times like most of the stories in this series. It was just ok. It might be fun to read for Thanksgiving. Recommended for grades K-2.

2nd review...Another cute version of the basic story. This time the lady keeps swallowing things related to Thanksgiving to make a surprise later on. There is always a nice twist at the end of this series. Whimsical and colorful illustrations will keep kids laughing. A great read-aloud book for younger children. Highly recommended for Grades K-2.

[Goshen PL Childrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for Storytime, November 23rd
Theme: Thanksgiving Feast

[LLeG84 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book!

[Shauna Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

The preschoolers at my work absolutely adore this book!

[Stephanie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Level: 2.6

Book Summary: This is a super cute book. I like all of these books (There was an old lady...). They all have the same creative qualities and way of explaining the story and the many things the old lady swallowed. The best thing about this book is how much young kids like it, they think it is hilarious.

Bookshelf Genre: Picture Book

Characteristics to support the genre: Read-aloud appeal, rhythm, rhyme.

Bookshelf mentor traits:


• Voice - The voice is 3rd person, telling about the old lady, but the way this book is read makes the voice a really fun one with all of the rhyming and Readability.
• Word Choice - The word choice is what makes this book so good, it is funny and the illustrations go right along with it. "There was an old lady who swallowed some wheels, she kicked up her heels when she swallowed those wheels."


Classroom Integration: I would use this book to engage students and to explain 3rd person voice VS 1sr person.

[Abbey Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Turkey is a book that I just read for my first time recently. I enjoyed the rhythm and the rhyming that this book has. Due to the book having this rhythm and rhyme it would be an easy read for younger readers. This book is full of humor. The illustrations in this book are also ones to make you giggle. When we see that the old lady is trying to swallow a boat, you cannot help but laugh when looking at the size comparison between the boat and the little old lady. The author of this book, Lucille Colandro has written several books similar to this one such as, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow each book has the same story line, but it is fun to see all of the objects Colandro comes up with for this little old lady to swallow.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing, Thanksgiving-themed retelling of "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." Jared Lee's illustrations are probably the best part of this book. The characters' comically exaggerated expressions are a lot of fun, especially the old lady's wide-mouthed exuberance as she gulps down everything from a live turkey to a parade balloon. However, the logic behind some of the objects she eats is a bit of a stretch. She swallows a football to play catch with the turkey... okay. But why, for example, does she swallow the hat to cover the football? And what do a boat and car tires have to do with Thanksgiving at all? It makes it hard for most readers to make predictions about what's going to happen next. As a result, this probably wouldn't be my first choice to read at storytime. Still, it's a fun idea, and I think young kids will appreciate the humor in seeing all the silly things the old lady eats.

[Noah Rachal · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself was a carrying on type of story that escalated from one thing to another. For example, "a lady swallowed a turkey, and then she swallowed a ball. The ball was used to throw with the turkey..." and so on. It was a story that picked up on what the lady ate and how it was used towards the last thing she ate. It goes on like this for the whole story, and quite honestly, the item she eats and how she uses these items for the previous things she eats doesn't quite make sense. The story, to me is nothing more than a bunch of jibberish. I feel like it could have been more detailed with a much better plot.

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are many, many old lady books, but this one is a must read for Thanksgiving. The old lady swallows a turkey, balloon, football, hat, and many more things! But why does she swallow them in this story?

This is a silly book for early elementary students. The repetition and rhyming creates a way for students to read along. There are great sequencing activities to do with this book with your students so they can retell the story. One idea I love is to glue the things she swallows in order on a turkey. Each item can be glued to the feather.

[Jennifer Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great rhyming book which also runs the imagination wild! Of course a great book to read around the holidays and can be a good story used for an opportunity of retelling. I would aim to use this book more in a small group and would create a prop like my classmate where the child has the opportunity to put the objects(paper) in the old lady's mouth like the story. **Shoe box and cardboard paper for the back and poster board for the front**

[Betul Kilinc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not very fond of this story or any of the "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a ----" stories. I feel like they don't have that much educational value for young readers. They all just seem slightly pointless and absurd to me. However, I do like all stories with repetition and ones that add to a list and it is important to have books like that for children so I gave it 3 stars as an okay book to read.