Fly High, Fly Guy! »

Tedd Arnold lives in Elmira, New York.

Mom and Dad won't let Fly Guy go along on the family road trip. They're afraid he'll get lost. But when Dad accidentally shuts him in the trunk, Fly Guy goes along for the ride!
First, Fly Guy gets lost at the picnic site--but he shows up in the garbage can. Then he gets lost at the art museum, but he shows up as part of a modern painting. At the beach, he turns up in a shell, and at he amusement park, on Buzz's hot dog (yuck!).
Zany illustrations and easy-to-read text make this a fun reading adventure for the beginner. The first book in the Fly Guy series is a Theodor Geisel honor book.
Praise for FLY GUY #1: HI, FLY GUY!
Readers drawn by the flashy foil cover will stick around to applaud this unusually capable critter. --Publisher's Weekly
Praise for FLY GUY #3: SHOO, FLY GUY!
Simple sentences with repetition reinforce reading skills in a humorous way. This delightful book is guaranteed to fly off library shelves. --School Library Journal

Children's Literature

Five books later and we still can not get enough of Fly Guy! It is time for a road trip and Buzz will not think of leaving Fly Guy at home. Mom and Dad have other plans, however, and Buzz's little pal is left at home, or so they think. When the family stops for a picnic and Fly Guy flies out of the trunk, Buzz can not contain his excitement. His parents warn him to make sure not to lose his pint-sized pal. Each stop on their trip is a scare, when Fly Guy appears to go missing. Mom and Dad ask, "Is Fly Guy lost?" But Buzz can spot Fly Guy in a seashell at the beach, on a famous painting at the art museum and digging through the stinky trashcan at the fun park. When it is the family's turn to get lost on the way home, Fly Guy heads up into the sky, scopes out their house, and guides them home safe and sound. This is one road trip that just would not have been the same without Fly Guy. Simple words and repetitions in the plot make this a perfect choice for kids just starting to move beyond the "See Spot run" kind of sentence structure. Above the categorization or levels of bland beginner readers, Fly Guy actually inspires kids to grab more books off the shelf. For other bug-infested beginner readers, check out Breakout at the Bug Lab by Ruth Horowitz and Inspector Hopper by Doug Cushman. Reviewer: Kristy Lyn Sutorius