Fly Guy and Fly Girl

We've been fans of Tedd Arnold's Fly Guy from the start, especially X and me. Now we've introduced the budding reading N to the cult, so a new book is always a treat. But Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl isn't one of my favorites.

Fly Guy meets super-woman Fly Girl, and they immediate imagine the whole jumping rope rhyme -- first comes love, then comes marriage, and before they can say MUZZLE-WUZZLE they've got themselves shacked up together. But then they realize that would mean leaving their beloved people, so they quickly decide to just be friends.

But why would two little kids want to go all romantic about each other? Of course, Fly Guy is probably a fully functional adult insect, but let's not go there because the path of realism in Fly Guy books leads to madness. Also, any preschooler could tell you that if you are worried about missing your parents after you get married, just don't leave home! You and your beloved can live under the dining table or something. And why does Fly Girl get to be better at everything than my hero Fly Guy?

The illustrations still keep the flies buzzing, with lots of tricks and super-gross menu items. All the kids liked it, but I think it rests too heavily on the rest of the series. As a stand-alone, it's good but not great. B-