THE FLY THAT FLEW OFF THE HANDLE by Jonathan Toret (Toga)

Jonathan Foret (Tonga 2004-06)

When you have a story to tell, you’re in the midst of a national pandemic, and you’re Jonathan Foret, you write a book. The original story is beautifully illustrated by Alexis Braud, a Cut Off-based professional artist, bringing Jonathan’s story to life in the pages of The Fly that Flew Off the Handle.

Jonathan, who is the Executive Director of the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, is proud to present his newly published children’s book, The Fly that Flew Off the Handle. “The story is about a little fly named Lester who feels angry a lot, but doesn’t quite know why or what to do about it,” explained the author. After a long journey of trying and failing to feel better, Lester meets a little butterfly, Seymour, who helps him figure out what’s wrong by asking him two simple questions: “What makes you angry?” and “what makes you happy?” Maybe the little fly Lester was just landing on the wrong surfaces this whole time!

“The book was inspired by my time serving in the Peace Corps from 2004 to 2006. There were lots and lots of flies where I lived and they made me very upset!” laughed Jonathan. “So the idea for the book was born. This has been in the works for years — I kept imagining an angry fly as a character who was trying to be happy.” Jonathan went on to discuss how his main character was inspired by the “journey of the hero” displayed in other famous works, such as Joseph Campbell’s work in comparative mythology and George Lucas’s “Star Wars” series. “If you read the book through that lens, you can see that this little fly in a children’s book is similar to a character like Luke Skywalker. He meets different characters, eventually finding one who helps him along his way. It’s a hero’s journey,” he said. “However, I want to mention that I couldn’t have brought this book to life without the beautiful illustrations of Alexis Braud.”

The Fly that Flew Off the Handle
by Jonathan Foret (Tonga 2004-06) and Alexis Braud (illustrator)
Bayou Country Holdings Publisher
36 pages
April 2023
$25.00 (Hardcover)

We all need to find where we belong to be happy. Lester is a fly with some problems. He’s angry. He’s frustrated, and he keeps flying off the handle! In The Fly that Flew off the Handle, Jonathan Foret tells a story of a bug on a mission to get himself on track.