Reader's Diary #1135- Andrea Leask (Writer) and Alison McCreesh (Illustrator): Ty and The Fly

Ty and the Fly by Yellowknife locals Andrea Leask and Alison McCreesh is a short but wildly energetic and funny tale perfect for young kids and dog lovers of all ages. I don't really fit either of those categories (I don't mind dogs, per se...) but nonetheless I was charmed.

Ty is a young chocolate lab who, as dogs are wont to do, chases and swallows a hapless fly. And just like that other fly-swallowing story, it wiggles and wriggles and tickles inside him, making its way down to the tip of Ty's tail. Unlike that other story, Ty doesn't swallow a spider to catch the fly but decides to take matters into his own hands paws. Thus, the tail chasing, and subsequent hilarity begins. (Rest assured, there's a happy ending for both parties.)

Leask's rhymes and rhythms come fast and furious and McCreesh is more than capable of capturing that in her art, which could be a study in dog anatomy in motion it's that good. That goofy, curious and youthful puppy energy is reflected in Ty's eyes in just about every scene. My favourite page comes after Ty is dizzy and exhausted and has flopped to the floor:

(Please note that the colours are much brighter in the original.)

I love the angle of the words and the slight curve of the floorboards; it's as if the room is still spinning.