I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

A cumulative folk song in which the solution proves worse than the predicament when an old lady swallows a fly.

South Dakota author Glen Rounds was born on April 4, 1906 in a sod house in the Dakota Badlands. The rugged beauty of his birthplace and childhood would shape his art throughout his life.He grew up on a ranch in Montana, studied art at the Art Institute in Kansas City, spent one summer traveling with fellow student Jackson Pollock, and another summer traveling with his teacher, Thomas Hart Benton.His first book, Ol’ Paul, the Mighty Logger, was published in 1936. His Whitey series, about a young cowboy and his cousin, was published from 1941 to 1963. His view of the Old West and his ability to tell tall tales through his writing and illustration are universally admired.Mr. Rounds received more than 25 literary awards for his writing and illustrating including the Parents’ Choice Award, six Lewis Carroll Shelf awards, the New York Times Outstanding Book Award, and the Kerlan Award from the University of Minnesota.Mr. Rounds died at his home in North Carolina on September 27, 2002 at the age of 96.


Glen Rounds lives in Southern Pines, North Carolina with his new wife Betty and old dog Boomer. For well over 50 years, Round's drawings of people and animals have been somewhat "unconventional", to say the least.