ANNOTATION

When Buzz captures a fly to enter in The Amazing Pet Show, his parents and the judges tell him that a fly cannot be a pet, but Fly Guy proves them wrong.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"A fly was flying. He was looking for something to eat. Something tasty. Something slimy. A boy was walking. He was looking for something to catch. Something smart. Something for The Amazing Pet Show." The boy and fly meet and so begins a beautiful friendship. Er, and so begins a very funny friendship. Using hyperbole, puns, slapstick, and silly drawings, bestselling author/illustrator Tedd Arnold creates an easy reader that is full of fun.

SYNOPSIS

"A fly was flying. He was looking for something to eat. Something tasty. Something slimy. A boy was walking. He was looking for something to catch. Something smart. Something for The Amazing Pet Show." The boy and fly meet and so begins a beautiful friendship. Er, and so begins a very funny friendship. Using hyperbole, puns, slapstick, and silly drawings, bestselling author/illustrator Tedd Arnold creates an easy reader that is full of fun. With an eye-catching holographic cover. This is the first in a series of four.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

A fly went flying," opens Arnold's (Parts) brief, playful tale, structured in three chapters. At the same time, "A boy went walking." The winged fellow is looking for food and the boy is searching for a critter for the upcoming Amazing Pet Show. The two equally and comically bug-eyed beings meet when the fly collides with the human hero's nose ("boink") and the lad captures it in a glass jar. After the infuriated insect stomps his foot and says, "Buzz!" the amazed boy replies, "You know my name! You are the smartest pet in the world!" Buzz shows his new pet, which he names Fly Guy, to his parents; his father announces that flies are pests and grabs a swatter-until the sly fly lands on Buzz's nose and calls him by name. In one of the book's funniest pictures, Fly Guy is dwarfed by the hot dog Buzz places in his jar, most of which he happily consumes. Though the pet show judges tell Buzz that flies don't qualify as pets, Fly Guy rises to the occasion and wows the judges with various feats, clinching the prize for smartest pet. Suitably wacky cartoon art accompanies the text, which is simple enough for beginning readers ready to soar to a chapter-book format. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2-A boy goes out searching for a smart animal to take to "The Amazing Pet Show" and bumps into a fly that is intelligent enough to say the child's name, "Buzz." Although his parents and the judges feel at first that a fly is only a pest, not a pet, the insect puts on a performance that astounds them all and wins an award. The cartoon illustrations showing characters with exaggerated wide eyes are delightful, but the text is somewhat weak and disjointed.-Anne Knickerbocker, formerly at Cedar Brook Elementary School, Houston, TX Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Pest-or Pet? A fly changes some minds in this diminutive tale-first, by astounding the lad who captures him in a jar ("BUZZ!" "You know my name! You are the smartest pet in the world!"), then, thanks to some fancy flying, by convincing the lad's parents and ultimately even the judges of the Amazing Pet Show that he's more than just a nuisance. A pop-eyed, self-confident mite in Arnold's droll cartoon illustrations, Fly Guy's up to any challenge, whether it be eating a hot dog (well, most of it, anyway), or performing amazing aerial acrobatics; readers drawn by the flashy foil cover will stick around to applaud this unusually capable critter. Any similarity to Ezra Jack Keats's Pet Show! (1972) is surely coincidental. (Picture book. 6-8)