The Flea's Sneeze

by Lynn Downey, Karla Firehammer (Illustrator)

Overview

On a dark, dark night

On an old, old farm

In a rickety, crickety

Tumbledown barn,

Everyone slept peacefully-

But not the flea . . .

A delightfully silly barnyard tale-now in paperback

What happens when a flea gets a bad case of the sniffles? Utter pandemonium in the barnyard! This rollicking picture book follows a lovable flea and his exceptional sneeze through the mayhem. Before the night is over, every animal-from the mouse to the cow-has something to say. Will the animals ever fall back to sleep?

Lynn Downey's quirky text and Karla Firehammer's charming pictures make this a winning story for preschool children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805077568
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	05/01/2005
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 9.95(h) x 0.10(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Lynn Downey is the author of The Flea’s Sneeze. She lives in Hampstead, Maryland.

Karla Firehammer enjoyed working on The Flea's Sneeze as it brought back memories shared with her grandmother, gardening and baking raspberry pie and cinnamon muffins. Ms. Firehammer has illustrated several books for young readers, including The Flea's Sneeze, If the Shoe Fits, and From the Doghouse: Poems to Chew On, for which she helped create intricate, hand-beaded illustrations. She lives in Lenexa, Kansas, with her three dogs.

Editorial Reviews

"Even better, their positions change from one spread to the next. Preschoolers will eagerly point out each animal with the repeat mentions of the barn's residents." - Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

A tiny little flea with a great big cold disrupts the slumber of the barnyard animals in this rollicking tale with a fitting end. Sprightly, rhyming verses recount the trials of the beleaguered insect as it struggles to go to sleep. A tickling cough, a few sniffles, a desperate request for a tissue all go unheeded by his barn mates, which include everything from a rooster to a frog. When the inevitable sneeze erupts, mayhem ensues as the other animals awaken with a start: "It scared the rat, / Who cried ‘Boohoo!' / And woke the cat, / Who hissed ‘Mairoo!' / It baffled the bat, / Whose eyes turned blue / And confused the cow, / Who muttered ‘Moo Moo!' " Amid the confusion, the sympathetic mouse that "the flea used for a house" finally gives the long-suffering flea a tissue. Downey's bouncy verses merrily skip along to the uproarious conclusion, which ends on a comical note as everyone, including the flea, settles down again—with the exception of the hog . . . "I think I'b godda sdeeze." Newcomer Firehammer's full-page, full-color illustrations perfectly suit the silly story. Brightly colored, the pictures are intricately detailed and are funny throughout, even though there is no real action until the sneeze. From the myriad of silly sleeping positions of the various animals to the bleary-eyed expressions on the flea's face, there's plenty to pore and laugh over. And kids will clamor to hear it read again and again. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews