Hi! Fly Guy

Hi! Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold (also illustrated)
Theodore Suess Geisel Honor Book
Scholastic, Inc.

ISBN: 0-439-63903-4

My rating: 4 out of 5

This is the story about a boy and his pet fly. Everyone is astonished by the fly’s ability to say the boy’s name – Buzz. This is fun short story that primary age students will enjoy. Even though it’s a small size, this would be a good book to use for a read aloud or possibly as a reading center. The vocabulary is not too challenging either.

Visually, the book certainly gets your attention. In some editions, the cover features a holo-foil background that reflects many different colors of light. The artwork itself is simply done in a cartoon-ish style. Far away, it looks like solid color, but when you look at the pictures up close, the shading is done with different colors of spirals. I do not think I have seen this done in any other book I’ve read. It really adds uniqueness to the book.

Hi! Fly Guy is an entertaining book that I would recommend to primary teachers.