13 Ways to Eat a Fly

There are thousands of kinds of flies. They come in many shapes and sizes and colors. But one thing they have in common is that they are all food for some other being. In this clever picture book, author and biologist Sue Heavenrich uses a reverse counting structure to introduce a variety of flies and what beings make a meal of those annoying creatures.

This book doesn’t just contain facts about the flies, as it also includes lots of interesting facts about those that dine on them. For instance, little brown bats emit a high-pitched sound that bounces back when it hits a flying insect so the bat can find its prey while flying through the night. A frog zaps a fly with its tongue and then swallows it by pushing it down its throat with its eyeballs!

Heavenrich’s language is lively and fun, as are the facts she has chosen to include. The bright, cartoonish illustrations by David Clark contain lots of fun details to help youngsters stay engaged. The wonderful back matter includes nutritional facts, edible parts of the fly, a good list of books and websites, and a selected bibliography. This is a real winner.