Drat That Fat Cat!

Publishers Weekly
(January 5, 2004; 0-439-47195-8)

The captivating fat cat in this silly cumulative tale from a British team will eat anything. He gleefully consumes a rat, duck, dog, lady and even a bee whose sting causes him to "Hic!" and burp them all up again. The cat's pink-cheeked, innocent face and the animals' "quack quack quacking" and "squeak, squeak, squeaking" inside the cat's growing tummy obliterate any fears youngest readers might have about the gobbling menace. No sharp-toothed villain, the cat is a plump charmer who has obviously not heard of the nation's obesity crisis. Thomson's (The Squeaky, Creaky Bed) repetitive tag line ("But was that cat fat enough? No, he was not!") encourages reader participation while cleverly obscuring the speaker's point of view. As in the familiar verse about the old lady who swallowed a fly ("I don't know why..."), there's no reason given for the cat's behavior, and his comeuppance when the bee stings him is both short-lived and comic. The fat cat's unrepentant nature is underscored on the last page as he eyes a succulent mouse, a hint that the story may begin again. Busby's (Rosie's Zoo) droll watercolor cartoons make use of quirky shapes and perspectives. Her cat is not simply fat but gargantuan, towering over dog and doghouse, its pink stomach so capacious that its inhabitants are shown lolling within. Sheer enjoyable nonsense. Ages 2-6. (Nov.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Horn Book Magazine
(January 1, 2004; 0-439-47195-8)

(Preschool, Primary) Was the already very rounded orange stripy cat fat enough? "No, he was not!" This greedy cat meets a rat, but when the rat doesn't have food to offer him, the fat cat gobbles him up and continues his search for food with the rat "squeak, squeak, squeaking inside him." As the story goes along, the sounds of quacking, woofing, and eventually even an old lady's exclamations of "drat that fat cat!" also come from the cat's belly. Swallowing a live bee proves to be the cat's great mistake when it gives him the hiccups and everyone pops back out. Illustrator Busby portrays the oversize kitty as entirely genial despite his habit of gobbling up other creatures. He is goofy and increasingly enormous, and Busby's bright paints burst out of the black outlines in a loose, exuberant style. Although the format is pure picture book, the text, with its simple words and repetitive phrases, would be easy for beginning readers. And the repetition of the animal sounds and, especially, the hiccups, should elicit lots of delighted audience participation. Copyright 2004 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.

Booklist
(January 1, 2004; 0-439-47195-8)

PreS-Gr. 1. With a nod to I know an old lady who swallowed a fly and a wink at Old Macdonald, Thomson has made a noisy read-aloud that will also appeal to new readers. There's a lot of rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration in this tale of a very large marmalade cat that is always hungry. As the cat meets a rat, a duck, a dog, and a little old lady, he gobbles them up one by one, even though each says, You are fat enough already! When he swallows a bee whole, however, things take a different turn, and he hiccups everyone out. Candy colors (the old lady has blue hair) and squiggles, dots, and stripes dominate. The orange cat looms large in most pictures; his pink nose and cheeks negate any fearsome aspect, and even the sounds of the critters he eats (squeak, quack, woof) have a jaunty air. --GraceAnne DeCandido Copyright 2004 Booklist

School Library Journal
(December 1, 2003; 0-439-47195-8)

PreS-Gr 1-A cumulative tale about a voracious feline that can't get enough to eat until he consumes a bumblebee. Youngsters will enjoy listening to this picture book, which is also a suitable beginning reader due to the repetition of words with the short "a" sound and