As a kindergarten teacher, she collected picture books. 'The inspiration to begin writing and illustrating for children came from my wife, Carol. When not working on his books, Tedd's interests include tennis, sketching, reading, coin collecting, and the computer. He has now published more than 30 books as author and illustrator. His second son, William, now stars in No More Water in the Tub!, a sequel to his first book. Their first son, Walter, inspired his breakthrough picture book, No Jumping on the Bed!. Carol, a Kindergarten teacher, drew Tedd's attention to children's books.

He and his wife, Carol, started their family in Tallahassee where Tedd worked as a commercial illustrator. There, Tedd's first art lessons in an abandoned dentist's office over the Happy Hour pool hall eventually led to a fine arts degree from the University of Florida. His father's work then required that they move to Gainesville, Florida. His family lived on a farm in Pennsylvania for several years then returned to Elmira until Tedd was ten years old.

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guyĭoes your early reader have a favourite book series? Find our about another of our favourite books for early readers.Born in Elmira, New York, Tedd grew up in a family of six with three brothers. With their somewhat gross themes and cartoon-like illustrations, the Fly Guy series is sure to appeal to those children who don’t mind a little disgusting! At seven, Immy really enjoys them and they are a quick easy read for her, perfect for fluency and comprehension, and a real confidence booster (the following are Amazon affiliate links that will take you to the Amazon page for each book for further information). Obviously, as picture books to read aloud they can be used with children of all ages. The text is more challenging than that of the Elephant & Piggie series. As reading books, I would peg them as being best for children between six and eight years of age – but this will obviously depend on their reading ability. They are structured as very basic chapter books with 32 pages in each book. I can’t say exactly why this bug-eyed fly and his boy, Buzz, appeal to children, but they do! Great for early or reluctant readers, the books include large, readable type, simple text and funny-to-kids, highly engaging story lines. Today there are more than 20 books in the series, including six non-fiction books. Th first in the series, Hi! Fly Guy, was published in 2005 and was awarded the ALA Theodor Seuss Geisel Award shortly thereafter. But all it took was one book and she was hooked! When Immy first brought home one of Tedd Arnold’s Fly Guy books from the school library, I honestly failed to see the appeal.

Super fly guy