Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Slop: A Tale of a Very Greedy Cat

Who ever heard of a cat so greedy it swallowed its friend, the parrot, then a nosy old woman, a farmer and his donkey, and even the sultan’s royal wedding procession? Meilo So’s hungry, irascible tabby just opens his mouth and—gobble, gobble, slip, slop—down its gullet they go. Each page shows the cat getting fatter and fatter until two small land crabs put an end to the cat’s greed. With a glorious gatefold pull-out, So wraps up her story with all of the victims, including the sultan’s elephant, tumbling out of the cat’s tummy as good as new.

Retold from an Indian folktale, it’s as preposterous as “The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly” and much more fun. Children will join in the gobble, gobble, slip, slop refrain and want to look at the irresistible artwork again and again.

K-Gr. 2. So's raucous, wildly exaggerated tale from India, which focuses on the evils of gluttony, will remind readers of a certain old lady. A cat and a parrot decide to take turns preparing meals for each other. The cat makes the parrot three grains of rice, and the parrot makes the cat 500 cakes. The cat eats them all, demands more, and then eats the parrot! Still hungry, "gobble, gobble, slip, slop" Cat devours an old woman who scolds him, a farmer and his donkey, the sultan, his bride, his elephant, and his soldiers. The blue-gray tabby gets bigger and bigger (and more unhappy looking) until he finally swallows two crabs. They cut a hole in his tummy and let everyone out. So illustrates it all with ink and watercolors on buff-colored rice paper, a neutral base for the splendidly vivid and evocative images inspired by both Western and Eastern traditions. The impressionistic art shows echoes of Persian and Indian miniatures, Chinese silk painting, and European folk patterns. Much giggling will ensue. GraceAnne DeCandido
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