There Was an Old Mermaid Who Swallowed a Shark!

POPK-Gr 2—This underwater romp is at once funnier and more educational than "There was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly." The mermaid's marine diet is skillfully inserted into the old rhyme ("There was an old mermaid who swallowed a squid./That's what she did!/She swallowed a squid./She swallowed the squid to romp with the shark…") and her antics are observed by a boy and girl in a boat who add commentary on the target animals' habits and features. Closing nonfiction additions complement the silliness with a paragraph each of facts about the creatures featured in the story— sharks, squid, tropical fish, eels, crabs, sea stars, and clams—and a search-and-find game. Lee crams delightful cartoon details onto the undersea spreads. His zany style is reminiscent of Quentin Blake's work; its inclusion here tips a solid text into "read it again" territory.