Review by Booklist Review
PreS-Gr. 2. Elsie has a gray tabby and a ginger cat and lives on a little farm, where she grows and sells cabbages. One day, she discovers her crop has been savaged, but when she tries to stay awake waiting out the culprits, all she catches is a cold. Her cats, however, have tracked the thief--bunnies devouring the cabbages. The next day she finds a pile of veggies outside her door (courtesy of the bunny-herding cats) and makes a fine pot of soup with them and her last cabbage. She even shares her soup with the rabbits that appear at her door and soon has a houseful of new companions that help her sow the next crop. The deadpan text becomes truly hilarious when combined with Oller's soft-edged watercolors with their chubby, winsome characters; the cats' single-minded approach to the rabbits will have children giggling aloud. --GraceAnne DeCandido Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A reclusive farmer named Elsie can't seem to stop a mystery marauder from decimating her famous cabbage patch. After she fails at keeping sentry, Elsie's formidable cats, Fluff and Gordo, take on the role of enforcers, catch a gang of rabbits in the act and compel them to return all their booty to Elsie's doorstep. When Elsie spots them, she invites them in for soup; they join the household and help her cultivate cabbages of renown. "Her life was no longer so simple, and she liked it that way." In her first book as both writer and illustrator, greeting-card artist Oller (Dogs, Dogs, Dogs!) makes wonderful use of her visual signature: rotund, soulful characters who seem to materialize from clouds and puffs of watercolor. While there's deliberate humor in the plodding movements of Elsie and the squat imperiousness of Fluff and Gordo, Oller communicates that their considerable girths contain immense reserves of feeling and purpose. Her storytelling, however, lacks the same control. The text, while not long, contains extraneous phrases and seems to wander to its rather pat conclusion. Ages 4-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-An old woman and her two cats live quietly on a small farm where she is especially good at growing cabbages. Then one day, half of her crop mysteriously disappears. Elsie resolves to find the culprit, but, in the end, it is her pets that set things right, and expand her circle of friends in the process. The watercolor illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to the text. Kids will love being in on the joke when they see what destroyed the cabbages long before the woman does (rabbits). One particularly funny page shows Elsie's reaction to her decimated field: the stately text, "For a moment, she lost control," is set against a trio of pictures of Elsie in full tantrum mode. The evocative, muted tones set the mood as surely as the expressive faces on Oller's characters, both human and animal. An ideal addition to storytime, and a tale destined to be enjoyed by a wide audience.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Maryland School for the Deaf, Columbia (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
When rabbits raid Elsie's cabbage field, her two cats take the situation in hand. Under their supervision, the rabbits make restitution and help plant another crop; Elsie ends up with new, improved cabbages and new friends as well. In the soft, humorous illustrations, blue and green cabbage-colors prevail, while Elsie and the animals are as round as her prize vegetable. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Elsie lives a simple life on a small farm where she grows many vegetables, but growing cabbages is what she does best. Everyday she loads them onto her truck to sell to the greengrocer--until one morning, when she finds half her cabbages gone. She sits up all night to guard them; instead she falls asleep and catches a cold. That's when Fluff and Gordo, her two cats, take action. When Elsie gets up to make cabbage soup to soothe her throat, she finds all the ingredients on her doorstep. As the soup simmers, the cabbage-eating culprits--rabbits, of course--pile up outside her window and she invites them in for soup. When Elsie plants more cabbages, the cats make sure the rabbits help this time (even adding a little fertilizer). The charming soft-toned and -shaped watercolors enhance this subtle twist on a familiar plot. Adults may recognize the plump cats and Elsie's images from her greeting cards. A clever story about cultivation, in more ways than one. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
