There Was a Bold Lady Who Wanted a Star

by Charise Mericle Harper

There was a bold lady who wanted a star,
I don't know why she wanted a star, it seemed too far...

In this funny, clever adaptation of the classic song "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," Charise Mericle Harper takes readers on a wacky journey as a feisty, bold lady tries everything from skates, to a bike, to a car to reach a star. Children will love poring over all the details in Harper's magical illustrations.

Genres: Picture Books, Space, Childrens, Storytime, Transport

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2002

Reviews

[Rebecca Alvarez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a twist on the classic and familiar "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly." In this story the old lady really wants to have a star in a jar. Catching a star, however is not as easy as she thinks. The old tries several different ways to reach for the star until finally she finds the solution.

This children's literature can be classified under the genre of folk tale. The book, Children's Literature, Briefly 7th Edition, identifies folk tale as consisting of the sub genre- cumulative tales. A cumulative tale is further defined as being a story that is added upon. In this book each page is repeated until the end when all the contents of the story are added together.

[Emily Tu]

In, “There Was a Bold Lady Who Wanted a Star,” by Charise Mericle Harper, a lady wanted a star and tried her best to be able to get it. The lady is shown to try various methods of transportation to reach her goal of obtaining the star; such as, skates, car, and a rocket. Eventually, the lady was able to capture the star and bring it home to put it in a jar. The lady never gave up despite acknowledging the distance that was between her and the star. The lady utilized many different modes of transportation that may seem unhelpful to reach her goal, such as shoes or skates. Despite the distance, the lady never gave up and was able to accomplish her goal of having a star. In Moebius’, “Introduction to Picturebook Codes” Moebius discusses the idea that picture-books offer invisible ideas that the words themselves do not mention (253). In the book, it does not state why the lady wishes to capture a star, however, on the first page, there is a little boy laying in a bed while the lady looks out of the window to a star. On the last page, she is seen giving the star in a jar to the little boy that is laying in bed. Although it does not explicitly state in the text the reasoning behind her desire of having a star, the pictures suggest that she was determined to retrieve the star for the little boy.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old lady swallows a star and then addsone action to a series trying to get to what?. Cute. toddler and up

[Ham · Rating 2 out of 5]

This lady can’t draw. She rhymes far with far. Why do people keep publishing her books?

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Colorful illustrations and a catchy rhyming story. Great for toddler story time.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A song to a tune I already know? Heck yeah!
This is a cute one that I think will be a good addition to space storytime, but I'd probably skip the book and just use it as a song. (Sorry, author! Love the rhymes!)

Edited after storytime: I'm so glad I had this as a backup book the day I did space storytime with my toddler group. I had a huge crowd of babies that day, so books just weren't happening. I broke out my guitar and we sang along to this book. It went great!

[Alysia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book at our library and read it to my boys. They are space fans, so combining that with the well-known "Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" bit was my original draw, but as I began reading last night my admiration for the book grew.

The opening picture is a mother and child at bedtime,... she wants a star, but it seems too far. She goes through shoes, skates, cars, planes, and finally a rocket to procure the star. (The whole time staying true to the original rhyme.) I love how empowering it was. Every time she came to an obstacle, or her transportation runs out, she doesn't give up. She finds a new way, even going over mountains.

******* Spoiler ******
I loved the story, and felt that just getting to the star was the character's goal, but then at the end, she returns the star to the bedroom with the child and they have the star in a jar.
What Mom's wouldn't do for their children? We try to teach them they can conquer the world, and to reach for the stars.

I recommend this read. It's worth owning.

[NATUI · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another new discovery for our family. Our kids love love love this book. It was fun to have a new twist on the old tale, and the fact that the lady goes into space is just the coolest. We loaned this to our preschool class, and the teachers loved it so much they bought a copy to keep in the classroom permanently. Another definite must have!

[David Bril]

This is a bold lady who isn't swallowing things. This bold lady is finding ways of transportation, so she can finally capture a star. It's a really nice story that has a good flow and very good animation. I bought this thinking it was an Old Lady who swallowed story but liked it enough, that I usually start with this book when introducing the old Lady stories series.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only recently discovered this book and had a difficult time getting a hold of a copy since it's out of print. I loved this book! I plan to use it for our 2012 children's summer reading for a space and stars storytime. What a fun, colorful way to introduce kids to stars and space.

[Fjóla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could care less about the illustrations but the rhyme is a funny spoof on "There Was and Old Lady" and my son was highly amused, as he read it to me. And the summarization at the end is a neat touch.

[Partridge Public]

Harper, Charise M. K-1st

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, I think that it is better than "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" (I think the original is a bit demented.)

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for a space/star storytime

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun silly read. Kids love to laugh and have fun while I read it to them. Very fun!

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great old lady who swallowed parody with bold illustrations and funny language. Engaging readaloud for a star story time. PS-3

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit long for preschoolers but fun for a star theme...

[Thia]

transportation

[Ms. Jeane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book during "Stars" storytime and it was a big hit! I sang it of course to the tune of "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly" and the kids seemed to really like it.