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.