Gloria's Porridge

Gloria has made a pot of porridge and her cat wants some too, but Gloria doesn’t want to share, because she is just too hungry. When she goes out to get more water – you can guess what happens next, Cat decides to just have a lick and then another and in no time, he has eaten the whole pot of porridge. Gloria, not surprisingly, is very cross and waves her spoon at Cat frightening him.

This leads to a chain of events as the alarmed cat startles a sleeping donkey, who unsettles a hive of bees, who upsets a hen. In no time at all there is an awful rumpus, and everyone is noisily complaining. A very sensible and clever Fox hears the rumpus as she walks by. She helps them sort out the problem dismissing their complaints and encouraging them to think about what they will do about it. The fuss is soon over, peace is restored and Gloria and her cat apologise to each other before sharing a fresh pot of porridge.

This is a very satisfying game of consequences story.  Beautifully told by acclaimed writer Elizabeth Laird it is based on a traditional Ethiopian folk tale. Toby Newsome’s illustrations are perfectly pitched helping to make this a very engaging picturebook for young children.