I Know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello

by Barbara S. Garriel, John O'Brien (Illustrator)

Perfect for any young reader interested in music, families who love music, and a must-have staple for music classrooms, this funny picture book is an amusing introduction to the instruments in an orchestra, featuring clever rhymes and whimsical illustrations.
 
Meet a shy fellow! He’s hard to notice, but he’s right at the side of the room listening to a duet for cello and viola. But look again -- our shy fellow suddenly has an urge to swallow a HUGE cello, which is precisely what he does. And he doesn't stop there! He also swallows a harp, a saxophone, and a fiddle while trying to satisfy his voracious appetite for musical instruments. But when he swallows a teensy, tiny, little bitty bell, you won’t believe what happens! In this take-off on a classic children’s song, kids will laugh out loud and learn all about musical instruments with this story that’s a melodious mix of fun and frivolity.

Genres: Picture Books, Music, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Storytime, Poetry

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Luisa Knight]

An enjoyable, quirky book that will make children giggle ... and wiggle ... about the fellow ... who swallowed a cello!

Ages: 4 - 8

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.

[Ivan]

Clever variation on "there was an old woman who swallowed a fly" with terrific illustrations and a nice introduction to musical instruments.

[Laura Cohen]

Rhymes were pretty weak. I like that the cat was conducting at the end😺

[Serious Storytime Shenanigans]

Date: 03.01.24
Attendees: 64
Theme: Music and Rhyme

Introduction and announcements: My Hand Say Hello

Book one: Down by the Cool of the Pool by Tony Mitton

Song/rhyme/game one: Down by the Bay (with Tambourines)

Book two: Chester Van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme by Avery Monsen

Song/rhyme/game two: List of Dances by Jim Gill

Book three: I know a Shy Fellow Who Swallowed a Cello by Barbra S. Garriel

Song/ rhyme/ game three: Play on Your Instruments by Judi Cranston

Activity: Free Play and Musical coloring sheets

[Linda Brewer]

This is a great book to introduce musical instruments to K-3 students. As the name suggests, this is a takeoff of the old lady and the fly stories. But this story has a happier ending since the guy just sneezes the last instrument out. The illustrations are pretty wild in this text and will keep the students' attention. There are lesson plans available online to support this text at http://readingtokids.org/Books/BookVi...

[Karin]

Children's literature picture book
K-2

This book is a take-off on the Old Woman who swallowed... books. This one uses musical instruments. It's the teeny tiny bell that causes him to bellow out all of the instruments. Fun imaginary book. I liked the drawings that illustrate this book. Kindergarteners would love this book. I could see it also being used as a mentor text in showing how authors take a tale and alter it.

[Karla]

Not quite as wonderful as Lucille Colandro’s versions bit a close second

I love this series of books and the kids do too!

Based on the traditional story- these follow the same pattern with a new theme

Introduces concepts of themes and encourages children to compare the authors previous work


The main character this time is a he instead of a she

Lovely illustrations as well

Recommended

[Lisa]

Not all variants on the "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly" rhyme books are good. This one is great. The choices for the next thing to swallow all made sense (as far as the rhyme goes) and this especially hit a high point because my stepdaughter's father actually plays a cello.

[Kristin Nelson]

First of all, I really am not a fan of any "I knew...who swallowed..." books. It's a tired and overused formula. Using instruments instead of animals did not improve the formula. And I didn't like the illustrations.

[Nancy Messina]

This book just wasn't what I hoped. It was an add in book, so it was constantly adding in more things he ate and it just wasn't for me or Winry. I also thought the illustrations were a bit creepy, but others might like them.

[Ashlyn Ewert]

This book was cute. I think that this would be a book that children would find funny because of the man swallowing the instruments. This book would be a good way to help practice finding words that rhyme with each other.

[Dewey]

I'm a big fan of "I know a [blank] who swallowed a [blank]" riffs, but the illustrations in this book were the stuff of nightmares. Creeped me out, hard.

[BiblioBeruthiel]

This is the very definition of forced.

[Heather]

My son is obsessed with musical instruments so this book is perfect! It's his go to book for bedtime!

[matteo]

Gloriously vivid illustrations, but text that got very repetitive and too long. While it was interesting to hear the spins on instruments, I was getting bored repeating things.

[Jenn]

Cute.

[Ms. B]

The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly with a musical twist and no dying.

[Jordan Mingus]

I really like the rhymes in this book and the repetitive vocabulary. This reminds me the lady who swallowed the fly!

[Javier Trost]

Not a bad little book. Probably fun for 1st and 2nd graders. The illustrations are good but also a bit creepy.

[Katharine]

This is a rhyming book about a man who swallows a cello. Then he swallows a harp, then more and more instruments until he swallows the tiniest bell. Well, after all the other instruments, the bell was the one that made him the fullest. Throughout the introduction of each new instrument, the book repeats every other instrument the guy swallowed before hand. In the end, he ends up getting rid of each instrument in the opposite direction of the way he swallowed them. I'm not quite sure what kind of domain besides musical this would fall under and it really doesn't seem to be a teaching book of any one thing. In the end, I think it's just a cute rhyming book that gets some what too repetitive for me.

LE:
Have pictures of different instruments laid out on the table, and while reading the story in a small group, have one student at a time find the instrument that the guy is swallowing at that point in the story.

[David Natiuk]

I always get really bored in the middle of this book when you start repeating all the phrases again and again, "He swallowed the flute to jam with the sax. He swalled the sax to jam with Harp." etc. It's also not based in reality (ie. swallow huge instruments and see their outline in the stomach) so some kids might not like it.

On the positive side, there are some great rhymes and the pictures are comical and fun. It also shows a number of musical instruments you can use to teach children the names. I like the ending better than the first half - when everything comes back out. Better rhymes, much more fun to read and see.

[Lynn Davidson]

This entertaining story is a variation of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and can be performed/sung in the same way.
There was a shy fellow who enjoyed musical instruments so much that he swallowed a cello, then a harp, followed by six more music instruments. Having swallowed one too many, they had to come back up.
Fun illustrations.
This book fit in the 52 book club's summer '23 reading challenge, prompt "Pick Your Road Trip Tunes: a book inspired by country music."

[Abbi Kraus]

This book had me laughing out loud over the pictures. It is a great prediction book. : What do you think is going to happen to the shy fellow with all of the instruments now inside him? I am smiling just thinking about a child's reaction to this book. It is funny, and there is also music vocabulary in it.

[David Bril]

This has to be one of the weaker entires in the Swallow series. It has a clever idea and does introduce some different instruments, children may not know about, but the animation is stick figure like and bizzare and the frankly boring. I couldn't get through this book once, without the kids walking away, losing interest. Good idea, not great presentation.

[Becca]

Cute, rhyming story with lots of humor. Great read for a end of the day book. Not too many educational themes, yet children would love to hear this funny and silly story over and over again. It is good for recitation, and remembering.

[Beth Given]

A musical retelling of "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." The pictures are fun -- detailed -- and the rhymes and vocabulary and wordplay are outstanding.

This book has got a soft spot in my heart as it's one I read to my firstborn when he was just a little guy. :-)

[Melissa]

A delightful book for children that, while based on "I know an old woman who swallowed a fly" does double duty by teaching children all sorts of musical instruments! Just hopefully, children don't try to swallow them, but play them instead...

[Granny Weatherwax]

This is a fantastic read aloud book. It had everyone chuckling at the end. Yes, the rhyming is repetitive, but it is a musical retelling of The Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, so that is to be expected.

[Violinknitter]

This is a silly, silly book with very fun illustrations. The first half of the book, and some of the second, can be sung to "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly." The repetitive rhymes work well if you read them as nature intended: absolutely as fast as your tongue will allow. :)

[Stephanie]

Amusing but inferior twist on "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly". My little ones and I have been talking about different kinds of musical instruments lately so this was an entertaining way to reinforce that.