CAT AMONG THE CABBAGES

This fold-out book—from the illustrator of Vivian French's Oliver's Vegetables (1995)—is notable for a number of reasons, not the least for its gorgeous, color-drenched illustrations. Foremost is the story: A great white cat saunters through a farmyard. ``The cat crouches low to the ground and wiggles its tail in a field of little yellow flowers,'' and, as readers open up the right-hand page, ``It leaps! And a large yellow butterfly flutters high into the sky.'' The cat travels past pigs and chickens, past the dog, and into the barn where its family awaits. Typeface size and shape offer clues to the meanings of words—little appears in tiny type, fat looks plumpish—while a spread at the end serves up a color quiz. With a persistent momentum and punctuated by flaps that add mystery and drama, this is robust preschooler fare; the yarn-bright explosions of color in the illustrations only add to the frolic. (Picture book. 2-5)