Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog (Andersen Press Picture Books)

Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog are very lazy. T hey sit on the couch watching T V for days and days and days. T hey eat and eat and eat . T hey sleep and sleep and sleep. And when they wake up, they are surprised to find that the sofa has shrunk! T heir whole house seems to be shrinking! Or so they like to think. T hey set off to ask their relatives for help.

Will they find the answers to their mystery? Or discover their problem was more about growing than shrinking? Ages 4–8

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Also by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross:

Cottonwool Colin Grill Pan Eddy Mammoth Pie Old Dog

First American edition published in 2009 by Andersen Press USA, an imprint of Andersen Press Ltd. www.andersenpressusa.com Text copyright © 2009 by Jeanne Willis Illust rations © 2009 by Tony Ross T he author and the artist assert the moral right to be identified as author and artist of this work. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a ret rieval system, or t ransmitted in any form or by any means—elect ronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Andersen Press Ltd., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review. Dist ributed in the United States and Canada by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. www.lernerbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available ISBN: 978–0–7613–5151–1 Manufactured in Singapore. 1 2 3 4 5 6 – 14 13 12 11 10 09

eISBN: 978-0-7613-5696-7

FLABBY CAT SLOBBY DOG AND

JEANNE WILLIS TONY ROSS

ANDERSEN PRESS USA

Flabby Cat was sitting on the sofa when in came Slobby Dog. He sat next to her like he’d always done since they were small. But today, they just couldn’t get comfortable. “I’m all squashed,” said Slobby Dog. “T his sofa has shrunk.” “Nonsense!” said Flabby Cat . “T he cushions have grown.” “T hat’s it,” said Slobby Dog. “It’s very uncomfortable. Whatever shall we do?” said Flabby Cat . “Let’s do what we always do,” said Slobby Dog.

So they ate and

ate and ate.

And they slept and

slept and slept.

It was all very comforting, but when they woke up . . .

. . . t he sofa had shrunk even smaller.

O r so t h ey l ike ns had g row n even b i g g e r. o i h s dt u c e ot h t h in k . d n A

“It’s a frightful

squeeze,” said Slobby Dog.

“Whatever shall we do now?” asked Flabby Cat . “What we always do,” said Slobby Dog.

So they ate and

l ept and s h ey t d n A

s l ep t

and s

ate and ate.

lept .

It was all very comforting, but when they woke up . . .

. . . t he sofa had pract ically disappeared. And t he cushions almost filled t he room. Or so t hey imagined.

“We’ll never get comfortable!” sighed Slobby Dog. “Whatever shall we do?” cried Flabby Cat . “Eat and sleep?”

“N o, le t’s

do

m o s

et

h

ing

m co

ly di f feren t e t e l ,” p

sa

id S lo bby

“Let’s . . . . g Do

. . . watch T V!”

So t hat’s what t hey did. T hey watched a show about a cunning t iger and a wild wolf. And while t hey were watching . . .

. . . t hey ate and And they slept and

ate and ate.

slept and slept.

It was all very comfort ing, but when t hey woke up . . .

e s of a had . . . th h r unk, sh run s d a h k , t h e room o l e h o u se ha h d sh r u nk! w e th t h ey b el i eve d. o s Or

“T here’s no room for us here,” said Flabby Cat . “Wherever shall we live?” “Perhaps t he cunning t iger and t he wild wolf will let us live wit h t hem,” said Slobby Dog. “T hey are our distant relat ives, after all,” agreed Flabby Cat . “Let’s go and ask.”

But t heir distant relat ives were a lot more distant t han t hey t hought . Slobby Dog and Flabby Cat walked and walked t hrough st reets and cit ies. .

T hey sailed across several seas.

T hey searched fields and forests . . . . . . mountains and deserts.

But t hey couldn’t find t he cunning t iger and t he wild wolf.

When t hey were hungry, t hey had to hunt for food. So t hey couldn’t eat and eat and eat .

When t hey were t hirsty, t hey had to look for water. T here was no t ime to sleep and sleep and sleep. T hey were too busy t rying to stay alive.

At last , t hey came to t he jungle. T hey looked high and low, but t he cunning t iger and t he wild wolf were nowhere to be seen.

“Wherever can t hey be?” said Flabby Cat .

“I bet t hey’ve gone to our house!” said Slobby Dog. “I bet t hey’re sitt ing on our sofa!” “T hat’s just t he sort of t hing a cunning t iger and a wild wolf would do!” said Flabby Cat .

So t hey went home to look for t hem. Out of t he jungle, back over t he mountains. T hrough deserts, forests and fields.

Over t he sea, into t he city and t he st reet where t hey lived.

T hey ran indoors. “T here t hey are!” shouted Slobby Dog, point ing at t he mirror. And right t here, standing in front of t he sofa were none ot her t han . . .

. . . t he wild wolf and cunning t iger! Or so t hey t hought .

But t he wolf was Slobby Dog all st rong and slim from climbing and walking. And t he t iger was Flabby Cat all sleek and t rim from st riding and stalking.

T hey gazed at t heir reflect ions and for t he first t ime in a long t ime, t hey felt really comfortable wit h who t hey were.

All of which had not hing to do wit h t he size of t heir sofa . . .

and everyt hing to do . . .

wit h

gett ing off it!

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“A dream team of writer and illustrator!” —THE TIMES JEANNE WILLIS is a beloved author of children’s books. She also writes for television and film. She is the author of Gorilla! Gorilla!, also illust rated by Tony Ross.

TONY ROSS is a highly acclaimed children’s book illust rator. He illust rated the Amber Brown series by Paula Danziger and the Litt le Wolf Adventure series by Ian Whybrow. His books are published all over the world.

Jacket illust rations © 2009 by Tony Ross

A ndersen Press USA www.andersenpressusa.com Dist ributed in the United States and Canada by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc. 241 First Avenue North Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. www.lernerbooks.com

Flabby Cat and Slobby Dog are very lazy. T hey eat and eat and eat . And they sleep and sleep and sleep. But when they wake up, they are most uncomfortable. T he sofa has shrunk! Or so they like to think . . . “A dream team of writer and illust rator!”

— THE TIMES

www.andersenpressusa.com