Starred Review for Publishers Weekly

Cronin and Bliss follow up their bestselling <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Diary of a Worm and <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Diary of a Spider with a heroine so delightful it would be criminal to swat her. Fly, a purple girl with multifaceted green eyes, chronicles her childhood, from anxieties about the first day of school (“June 7: What if I’m the only one who eats regurgitated food?... June 8: Everyone eats regurgitated food!”) to family issues (“July 23: I visited my aunt Rita today. She’s been trapped on the wrong side of a screen for a week”). Tips on flying, such as “Leap backward when taking off,” combine with grade-school concerns and problems of discipline. Fly’s babysitter, a ladybug, can’t manage Fly and her 327 brothers and sisters (“Mom says we were a lot easier to watch before we grew heads”), so she brings a hungry green frog and sits back to read <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Teen Bugs magazine. Because flies “beat their wings 200 times per second,” “can see in all directions at once” and have amazing aerial powers, Fly fantasizes about being a superhero, though her friend Spider notes, “Superheroes bend steel with their bare hands. You eat horse manure with your feet.” Bemused readers may be more inclined to agree with Worm, however, who reassures Fly that “the world needs all kinds of heroes.” Cronin’s spot-on humor and Bliss’s uproarious ink-and-watercolor panels make Fly—and this third outing in the series—both irresistible and undeniably super. Ages 4-8. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

School Library Journal Starred Review (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

PreS-Gr 3 Fly Girl keeps a diary documenting her exploits at Flight School, at home with her 327 siblings, and with friends Worm and Spider in this animated version of Doreen Cronin's popular book (Joanna Cotler Books, 2007). Though the treatment is whimsical, the narration reveals numerous fly facts, including the insect's life cycle from egg to maggot to fly. The ladybug babysitter is particularly amusingafter her first visit, 87 of her unruly charges are stuck on flypaper; the second time she brings a frog along and the entire crew remain cowering on top of an apple core just shy of harm's reach, while their clever sitter reads her book. Spider's Grandpa, with his spectacles and fedora, is quite amusing; after telling her that she is "a very important part of the food chain," the old arachnid comes at her with a knife and fork. Fly Girl is convinced that she can be a superhero, citing her superpowers as proof. She can walk on walls, change direction mid-flight, and see in all directions at once with the 4,000 lenses in each eye. Still, Spider points out that real superheroes bend steel and eradicate villains. In the end, Worm assures her that "The world needs all kinds of heroes." Lively narration by Abigail Breslin and doo-wop music add to the fun. Viewers can also read along with subtitles that turn from white to yellow and watch an interview with Harry Bliss in which he explains how he illustrated the story and anthropomorphized the characters in his amusing, colorful cartoons. This clever production is a perfect blend of fiction and nonfiction, with just enough information to be used in a science class or a writing lesson to encourage youngsters to keep their own diaries. Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools

ALA Booklist (Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2007)

In Diary of a Worm (2003) and Diary of a Spider (2005), Cronin and Bliss make two of nature's least-appealing creatures into perfectly charming journal keepers. Just as likable is their new diarist, a young fly decked out in a fetching red bow, who first appeared in Spider's diary. The hopes, fears, and daily concerns Fly sets down seem worlds away from kids' lives: Will Fly be considered odd at school for her predilection for regurgitated food? What's the best way to deal with her 327 siblings? As one who eats horse manure, has 4,000 lenses in each eye, and can walk on walls, is she better than the superhero she dreams of becoming? Even so, children may well find a certain familiarity in the emotions underlying Fly's words. Bliss' colorful cartoon illustrations are the perfect counterbalance to the humorous irony in Cronin's text. Like its predecessors, this diary is a crowd pleaser.

Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

Like Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider, this book relays real-life information through Cronin's impeccable comedic timing in a way that makes the facts memorable. Bliss's illustrations, including additional pictures on the endpapers, incorporate many witty details. The short sentences and visual jokes make this a great selection for listeners and new readers alike.

Kirkus Reviews

Worm and Spider have had their say, now it's time for Fly to take center stage. <p>Worm and Spider have had their say, now it's time for Fly to take center stage. She frets in dated entries about going to school ("What if I'm the only one who eats regurgitated food?"), recording flying and other lessons, cutting up with her 327 brothers and sisters and especially yearning to be a superhero--despite her friend Spider's scorn: "Superheroes bend steel with their bare hands. You eat horse manure with your feet." Bliss contributes another set of cartoons that place small creatures with occasional identifying items of clothing (Fly's is a hair bow) in a big and not always entirely safe world. It's still a winning formula, and readers will come away, as from the two previous outings, with sore stomachs (from laughing) and surprising amounts of painlessly delivered natural history--plus Worm's sage and comforting closing observation that "the world needs all kinds of heroes." <i>(Picture book. 6-8)</i></p>