A Story for Thursday: There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

The room was filled with the children's laughter as I told a story about an old lady who swallowed a fly using puppets. The story revolves around an old lady who swallowed a fly and other kinds of creatures to catch that fly. The other creatures that she swallowed after the fly got bigger and bigger in size. Eventually, the old lady died.

I learned about this story many years ago somewhere in 2007 or 2008. At that time, I was about to go on a study and service learning trip to Vietnam and I was learning as much stories as I can in preparation for the trip. Initially, I was apprehensive on telling children the story because the old lady died. The story seemed morbid to me. "Who would want to tell children stories about someone dying?!” that was in my thought. With time, I reflected on the story and realised that I am not being a true educator if I chose to teach all that is comfortable, good, and flowery. Death is part of being human. Therefore, I must not exclude topics that are real in life. Another example would be; divorce.

A fun fact for one to note: the story is also in storybook form and it has a Caldecott silver medal.

The other important part is the discussion after the story is told. I did an interview session by getting the children to interview the old lady. As the storyteller, I played two characters; the storyteller and the old lady (when she needs to answer the interview questions). The children enjoyed it very much and their hands were up with great eagerness to ask questions. Topics such as greed and logical thinking can be discussed after the story. The children will surprise you with their thoughts on the story. When I told the story this week, the children were ever so forgiving and relaxed with the old lady's actions. To them, the old lady just wanted to catch the fly through all the creatures she swallowed. Previously, I had a child who refused to allow the creatures be swallowed by the old lady. As a person telling the story, one must be sensitive and quick thinking to the child's reaction as well. I would also like to highlight that one of the creatures the old lady swallowed was a cow. If one is to tell this story, be mindful and sensitive to children belonging to the faith of Hinduism. An alternative would be to change the cow to another creature.

I would recommend the story to be told using puppets. Children get to be engaged into the story even more when they get to put the creature into the old lady. It is exciting to be given the responsibility to play a part in the story. My best advice for this story is to animate the old lady and the creatures. At the end, you will receive a heartfelt applause and children yearning to hear the story again.