Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly-Pie

by Judy Sierra

Thelonius Monster once swallowed a fly, and decided that flies would taste grand in a pie. That silly guy!

Judy Sierra’s funny read-aloud romp presents a monster that children will love as he makes a goo-filled crust, lures hundreds and thousands of succulent flies into it, and invites his “disgusting-ist” friends and relations to a gala fly-pie party. “How it glistens! And listen—it hums!” shout the ravenous monsters. But just as his guests are about to dig in—the pie flies off. “Bye, bye, fly pie.”

Judy Sierra’s story in rhyme begs to be read aloud during Halloween season or any season, and Edward Koren’s signature hairy monsters capture all the humor of this deliciously gross tale.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Monsters, Storytime, Food, Fiction, Poetry

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 9, 2006

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A generous monster spares no effort to share his new culinary delicacy with his friends and relations. Text goes (more or less) to the tune of "There was an old lady who..."

I appreciate seeing a "gross" kids' book that's not about poo or farts.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book sitting around for over a month. I pulled it off the shelf thinking the gross aspect would intrigue kids. But I was not in the mood for gross, so I kept putting off reading it. Trying to get rid of the piles of books at my desk, I finally read the book. And it's not gross. Not really. The "gross" part is actually humorous to me. And the pencil drawings with minimal color are interesting, too. The rhyme is not that revolting--it's fun. If I practice enough and get my eyes used to the limey green, I believe this would make for a very fun preschool storytime.

6/25/10 I think the kids enjoyed this. They answered the questions I asked (and made reactions then). I'm just getting such well-behaved children that they make NO peeps as I read. But I didn't see bored looks or anything, so I think it went well.

[Cole Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rhythmic book is about Thelonius Monster and how he decides to make a pie for all the creepiest critters in the world. The pie has a sticky crust that lures flies to it. Thelonius then invites all his creepy friends to eat the pie but as soon as the guests arrive, the pie flies away.
The entire book is in black, white, and green. I feel this adds tremendously to the meaning of the book. How the only characters that are in color are the flies. This puts attention on the flies and eventually ends up being a happy story for everyone, including the flies. I love how important words in the text have a bigger font and really stand out to let the reader know what is being emphasized in every page.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Cosette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I was reading Ronald Dahl while reading this.

[Braelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry. 2006. I love how the pages in this book rhyme together. This is definitely a book for kids to enjoy and be silly about. Thelonius creates a pie that will attract flies, but in the end the flies are able to escape and the monsters eat without flies. The fonts in the book are different in size and shape, making the book feel more fun to read. This would be a good introduction to poetry for elementary grades.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A revolting rhyme," the cover says, in which a monster comes up with an elaborate plan to catch hundreds of flies in a sticky trap and bake them into a pie. Things don't turn out as planned.
Funny. Just enough grossness to really make kids interested. Short enough for preK storytime but interesting enough for grade school storytime, I think.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thelonius Monster learns a lesson about making sure your pie ingredients are not too upwardly mobile in this fun tale with great Edward Koren illustrations. I was, however, disappointed that no recipes are included.

[Ellie Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was really cute. The rhyming was fun and interesting. I think this would be a great vocab book for younger kids. The illustrations were just detailed pencil drawings which I found interesting to look at and fit the story well.

[Marlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book. Funny, nicely done. My daughter (age 9) was quite interested by it.

[Anne, Unfinished Woman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious, gross...just what kids love. Delightful imagination.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It reads like "There was an old woman who swallowed a fly..." Fun book.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly weird book, but very fun. It worked on kids in preschool up to first grade.

[Mrs Heet -Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very silly rhyming book that feels a little like the classic "I know an old lady". Not really a gross story, it will give you the occasional chuckle.

[zunggg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Superb writing - would merit a place in any anothology of kids' verse - but the art sadly pales in comparison.

[Chelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about a monster who decides that he wants to make a pie made out of flies, while he is making the pie he is also inviting all of his friends and family over to have the pie with him and see how great it is, the monster is so busy talking about the pie that he forgets to bake the pie and the flies fly way with the pie and are free but the monsters tell him the pie was great and that he is still a great cook and he feels better. This was our least favorite book out of the five that we chose, the illustrations were not my favorite, and they were very simple and black and white with a green accent. We decided we liked the busier and colorful illustrations and that is why we didn’t like this one as much. The illustrations are very simple but very messy, the thing we liked about this book was that even though the illustrations were simple it allowed the words to pop more and that made the writing more prominent.
This was not one of my favorites that I've read and although I think it's a great one to have in your classroom and on your shelf I personally am not the biggest fan. For me I think it's a mixture of the illustrations and the story line.

[Monster]

Enjoyable rhymes describe the path of Thelonius Monster as he concocts and executes his plan to make a giant pie filled with flies. After collecting the flies and setting his pie up, Thelonius invites all his fellow monsters for a treat, but the flies have other plans. New Yorker cartoonist Edward Koren's black and white drawings are both amusing and revolting, and the flies are humanized with quirky faces. Thelonius Monster's Sky-High Fly Pie would be a fun read aloud and a good choice for storytimes, especially paired with Simms Taback's There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. Appropriate for preschool through early elementary school children. Recommended for both school and public libraries. Contains: extreme dietary silliness.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story, but I am having a hard time figuring out why it is nominated for a California Young Reader Medal. Maybe students will see something in it that I haven't seen. It is a book told in rhyme about a monster who collects flies to make a pie. The flies are attached to a goo and monster invites his monster friends to enjoy the pie. The flies manage to fly away with the pie attached. The pie becomes unattached and the monsters tell Thelonius that the pie has just the right taste. The idea is original. But, the book just doesn't feel like it is of the same caliber as the other Young Reader Medal Nominees. Well, it is up to the kids to decide. So, we'll just wait and see.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I have a personal need for children's picture book illustrations to be bright and beautiful, and the rough pen sketches here did not satisfy me. The story itself is pretty funny, but I felt that the illustrations did a poor job of supporting the story. I do have to say, though, that I loved the introduction of a clever new nonsense word - "eleventeen"! Also, this monstrous book makes poetry a little more fun.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

After swallowing a fly, Thelonius Monster decided he needed to make a pie made entirely of flies. So after tagging after a cow, a horse, a dog and a cat he had his necessary flies. Once the pie was made Thelonius invited all of his family to come share it. Well, Thelonius forgot to bake the pie, so it flew away. But the monster clan was able to eat the crust and they did. They declared it the best crust they'd ever eaten!

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

For kids who enjoy the icky, sticky, yucky books, this is a hit. Thelonius goes to great lengths to collect flies for a fly pie that he's serving at a party. What he doesn't account for is that the live flies might fly away, which creates the ultimate pie. This is a fun read-a-loud for school-age kids.

[Cathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

If flies taste good, what would a fly pie taste like? Scrumptious - as long as it doesn't fly away. Thelonius monster invites his family and friends over for fly pie when it takes off without even a bite! Cute rhythm ... a bit reminiscent of "There was an Old lady who Swallowed a Fly."

Fun read-aloud, but the end comes up fast and short- leaves you hanging ... as if to say "and....."

[Melea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! Rhyming book with allusions to I Knew An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie". Gross-funny. Font of varying sizes to attract attention. Black and white illustrations with green highlights and green lettering on white pages and vice-versa.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This "revolting rhyme" is the tale of Thelonius Monster and his quest to enjoy a scrumptious pie made of flies. He is so proud of his creation that he invites his entire family to come and partake...but what happens when he forgets to bake it?

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

How did I ever miss this one? Sierra uses fabulous rhymes to tell a ridiculous and funny story about a monster and his pie made of flies. As a cook, I love the process! :) As a reader, I love the language!

[D'metria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is good for teaching about the different vowel sounds, digraphs, rhyming, sequencing, summarizing, synthesizing, narrations, onomonopia's, punctuation marks, and facts about our environment. This book is a great teaching tool.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining rhyming story that is likely to appeal to boys and girls who like gross and disgusting monsters and bugs. The narrative is fun to read aloud and the black and white and green illustrations are cartoonish. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars An weird and interesting book. I liked the rhymes and it was gross and funny and really gross! The green and black and white was cool but got to be too much after awhile! Still a nice book!

[Andy Orweenie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hillarious wordplay, and the story was superb, my favorite kids book of recent years

[Jude Gravois]

(library)