Thank you #netgalley for a copy of this book to review. My kids absolutely love this book. They want to read it every day, multiple times a day. It goes in the way of There Was an Old Lady, but I like the science twist with this one.

There Was a Black Hole That Swallowed the Universe by Chris Ferrie is a goofy rhyming book that follows the scheme of 'There was an Old Woman that Swallowed a Fly'. From the universe to quarks, a hungry black hole gobbles up everything til nothing is left! I read this with my cubs and they enjoyed it. For myself, it creeped me out. I have an irrational and illogical fear of these mysterious celestial entities. I got nothin' there… The artwork is amusing, and at the end of the book there's a note for ARC reviewers that the final hardcopy will have a second 'story' that can be seen back to front via a blacklight. Great addition for home or classroom!

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Explore for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

There Was a Black Hole that Swallowed the Universe is a picture book written by Chris Ferrie and illustrated Susan Batori. This book uses the familiar rhythm of "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," follow along as the black hole swallows up the universe and everything that exists in it, from the biggest to the smallest pieces of matter. The silly, vibrant artwork is sure to make stargazers of all ages smile. Included in the book are instructions to create a craft to turn a cell phone camera light into a black light. Use this new invention to reveal the secret, invisible text and artwork that reverses the story from nothing to the scientific creation of everything! It is currently scheduled for release on September 3 2019.

There Was a Black Hole that Swallowed the Universe is a well illustrated story that can give young readers a good idea of the building blocks of the universe. Some of of the word choices struck me as odd, and the fact that we go from planets down to cells did not make sense to me, but I know in a picturebook brevity is an art form its own and choices need to be made. I liked the idea and the artwork very much, and thought that the black light story in reverse is a wonderful touch, even if my digital copy does not allow me to enjoy it. I think this is a fun and enlightening story that will please many young readers and their caregivers.

Strong artwork and interesting facts overlaid with a very familiar, rhythmic tune makes for a great read aloud book to introduce the concept of black holes to younger readers. The book is fun and informative and provides lots of opportunities for back and forth interaction.

This book was extremely adorable and the illustrations were what really made it pop. I love how it "can't get worse" every time he swallows part of the universe or galaxy. I have never really enjoyed the whole "old lady who swallowed a fly" books just because I am not a fan of the repetitiveness of the rhyme, but I did quite enjoy this one. I hope my library orders one of these for the kids to enjoy as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Kids for sending me a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

There Was a Black Hole That Swallowed the Universe is such a cute book! We get to follow a black hole that eats progressively smaller things (we start out with the universe, eventually making our way to planets, molecules, and even smaller items). In the final product there will also be a blacklight reverse story, which I can’t wait to test out!

I do agree with some of the other ARC reviews that at first it seems like it’s written backwards, but it makes sense when you get to the ending. Plus, it makes a great learning opportunity for kids to discuss our place in space. I wish it was available now - our Summer Reading program is space-themed and this would have been fun to read for story time!

Really, however, my only complaint is that there is no additional information at the back of the book. It would have been nice to have more information explaining some of the terminology, or some further reading if parents and/or kids would like to explore more on any of the concepts (I really enjoyed how Just Right: Searching for the Goldilocks Planet by Curtis Manley approached this!).

There Was a Black Hole That Swallowed the Universe releases September 3rd and is available for preorder on Amazon. Thank you again to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Kids for the privilege of reviewing an ARC.

So this book is a cute play on "There was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly." There are some parts that I wasn't too sure about, because let's face it... I sang the whole dang book. I felt like one of the lines that kept repeating just didn't go. I do, however, love the vocabulary packed in this book. It could definitely be an fun introduction to a science unit. I also love that it is actually two books in one with the glow in the dark aspect.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I only wish it were available NOW...our summer reading program is a space theme and this would make the perfect story time book! We will be purchasing this title as soon as is humanly possible and I can't wait to see what my little preschoolers think of it!

The fact that <i>There Was a Black Hole that Swallowed the Universe</i> by the amazing Chris Ferrie and illustrated by Susan Batori might be a <i>little</i> too advanced for a lot of kids is more of a failing of society pushing science as important than the fact that the author is teaching about concepts that most children will have never been introduced to. Even I don't fully understand the last thing mentioned in this book, and I'm twenty-six years old. And yet, I am over the moon in love with this utterly brilliant children's book, based on and adapted from the classic children's book <i>There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly</i>. I was already a fan of Ferrie's work, having adored his first book <i>Scientist, Scientist</i>, but I think I love this one even more.

<i>There Was a Black Hole that Swallowed the Universe</i> features, predictably, a black hole that is going around swallowing up all kinds of pieces of our world. From galaxies, to planets, to stars, and finally to something called a quark. I do, personally, think that this story was written backward (it would make far more sense to swallow an atom before a universe), but then it wouldn't quite have had the ending that it did and frankly I loved the ending too much to see this as a huge issue in the end. So, ultimately, I really don't have any complaints about this book whatsoever.

The artwork in this book couldn't be more perfect. It's just the right amount of goofy and realistic, taking each aspect of science that is introduced and melding it with the humor of the story its based on. It's colorful enough to be incredibly engaging for kids and even reminds me of a book that I had when I was younger while also matching the realistic color that comes with the fact that a black hole is, in fact, black. And it teaches children about the universe, which in and of itself is the most important part. It mentions atoms and neutrons and quarks (whatever they actually are) and in that it fosters a curiosity in them that is so, <i>so </i>important. I can imagine many kids turning to their parents and asking them what a quark is, and for me if I were a mom that would even help <i>me</i> to learn something new since I currently have very minimal understanding for what a quark actually is.

So, plain and simple, I absolutely adore this book. It's one of the best I've ever read and I am so thrilled to have gotten a chance to do so. There is no question in my mind that I will be recommending this book to everyone I know with children, that I will be buying it as a gift for several of the children that I know, and I cannot wait for all the kids of the world to have a chance at reading such an amazing story about space.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

This was such a sweet book and would be so much fun to introduce little kids to space and the science behind it slowly!

This was fun to read and I know my students would LOVE this as a read-aloud. They love the "There Was an Old Lady" books where there is repetition and an opportunity for them to participate. The illustrations are also fun and quirky, adding to the tone of the book. I think often we think that kids can't grasp complicated concepts or use big words but I stopped believing that as soon as one of my 3rd graders explained what a super nova was to me in accurate detail. This book is meant to be humorous and not necessarily a book to get facts but I think it would spark the interest in those interested in space, planets, etc.

A cute concept, but not well executed. The black hole swallows up the largest things first, which doesn't make sense. If you've already swallowed the universe, doesn't that mean you've already swallowed the planets?

This book takes the very familiar rhyming of There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and goes above and beyond! The illustrations are wonderful and showing just how massive and tiny our world is all in the same book is amazing. I also love that with a black light this book can be read forward and shown backward. Thank you for bringing something that children of all ages can relate to and enjoy.

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

This book was very interesting. It broke down science in an easy way for kids to understand. The pictures were cute and colorful. I like the aspect that when it is finished, the hard cover will have a black light page and that if read in reverse you can read about creation of the universe. Very neat!

This is a cute book that I really wanted to like a bit more. I read it with my 7 year-old, who enjoyed it, but she kept asking questions like "what's the difference between an atom and a molecule?" and "what's a quark?". I told her I'd explain at the end and was hoping for a brief glossary, but there are no explanations at all for the terms in the book, so I had to kind of quickly summarize astrophysics on the fly for her level (now I have to find THAT book).

The book is basically a take on "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly," except it goes from the very big to the very little and then to quarks as a sort of surprise ending.

The order of the swallowing is: There was a black hole that swallowed a universe (I don't know why it swallowed a universe -- Oh well, it couldn't get worse), then galaxy, star, planet, cell, molecule, atom, neutron, and then ends when it swallows a quark and everything ends.

I enjoyed the scientific angle of the book, but the poetry was pretty stilted and it was hard to read at times. There wasn't the natural rhythm of good poetry and it often felt forced.

Also, there's not a lot of science in the book, which was the biggest disappointment to me. Yes, the author uses 8 scientific words in order of size, but that's most of the extent of science you actually get. As mentioned, there's no glossary. There's no quick little synopsis at the end, no little facts sprinkled in the illustrations, or other extension of the lesson. Many educational picture books have a short, cute format and then at the end they have more detailed information. I was hoping for that, but this is more along the line of a short read-aloud with a science theme.

The book will make a great accompaniment to science studies, and it's a fun read-aloud. The illustrations are cute and kids all naturally love any books in the "old lady who swallowed a fly" format. I recommend it, though I wish the author had given us a bit more.

My rating system:
1 = hated it
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = love it, plan to purchase, and/or would buy it again if it was lost

I read a temporary digital ARC of the book for the purpose of review.

Awesome storybook that makes it easy for kids to understand what makes up the universe from planets to molecules. Love the pictures! Clever how the author reviews the pieces of the universe the black hole eats. A definite must buy!
Thank you for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"There Was a Black Hole that Swallowed the Universe" is a cute children's book with some basic astronomy facts.

This book is in the rhyme pattern of There was an old lady who swallowed a fly so it is more juvenile. It seems to be geared towards younger children but the content is more adavnced. This would have to be for a child that is very much into space and science to find it interesting.

What a clever book that will have little ones grasping key concepts and vocabulary at an early age. Using the rhyming and repeating pattern, will ensure these words transfer to long term memory, way before the reader needs to know the complex nature of some of the terms.