I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bright colorful makes this book fun for the little ones. Pointers on focusing, staying on task.

I normally like Freedie the Fly books, but I am torn on this one. The beginning of the book is like Froggy Gets Dressed, but Froggy is better executed. Then it goes in to the Bee On, Buzz off lesson. And for lack of a better term they introduce a fidget spinner or a Bee Band. They tell the reader to use it to concentrate, get your buzz actions out in the band and bee on in your brain, eyes, and ears. It just doesn’t work for me. First off it’s overly long, and second, I’m not sure I like that they say bring an item to help you concentrate. Many classrooms wont allow things like that which could end up causing greater problems.

Freddie the Fly is an adorable character. He is struggling with focussing and staying on task. In the morning, while getting ready for school, he keeps forgetting things and needs several reminders from his Mum. At school, he misses important instructions and rules. He is so excited about the world, that he gets distracted and often lands himself in trouble. Freddie is given advice by a friendly zookeeper on how to channel his fidgeting. He tries to listen and remember more by visualising things he hears. A simple technique that requires a lot of practice in order to master it. His Mum adds another tip of making lists and drawing pictures.
Many children will find Freddie easy to relate to and will, hopefully, want to try out Freddie’s mantra of ‘Bee on, buzz off’ to improve their ability to stay focussed.
The pictures are very cute and are a definite strength of this book.
Thank you NetGalley and Boys Town Press for the Arc provided in exchange for an honest review.

I can't wait to share this story with my students! Freddie shares challenges that all students new to school do - having self-control! Freddie is always on the move, he becomes so excited by things around him that he tends to act carelessly. This oftentimes gets him into trouble, and even lost! This book will be such a great starting point to having conversations surrounding how we control our bodies, and what could happen when we don't.

I loved Freddie the Fly. This is such a great way to teach kids how to control their need to move constantly. It gives practical steps and ideas to help the student learn control. It also takes place in a cute little story so it doesn’t feel like a teacher telling you what to do. I was very excited to discover that this is a series and I will be getting them for my library.

Freddie the fly presents as many wonderful children I get to work with. I found myself often nodding at relatable scenarios. Filled with beautiful illustrations and tips for parents at the end, Freddie learns several strategies related to impulse control and on task behaviors. While I love almost all stories supported by Boystown, I found this story to be a little too long for some of my elementary students for one sitting. However, it can easily be broken up into multiple reading and discussion sessions.

Freddie the Fly is a very cute tale of a little fly who can’t focus on what needs to be done. Fascinated by the world around him, his mind and body zooms a hundred miles an hour and doesn’t stop. This causes problems at school when he doesn’t listen to the teacher. While on a field trip to the zoo, Freddie was too busy looking at all the animals to listen to instructions and ends up getting lost. A friendly guide helps and offers some advice for paying attention that helped him when he was a young fly.

Today’s fidgety kids have more tools available to them than when I was growing up, or even when my son was very young, but books like this are still very much needed. Teaching self-control over one’s thoughts and actions starts with learning how to accept you’ll still forget somethings, but the more you work at it, the easier it becomes.

This book had super cute illustrations that exploded with as much energy as Freddie. Delude’s story promoted self-control as well as acceptance, patience, and helping others. Fantastic combination!