THE ENORMOUS MISTER SCHMUPSLE! An ABC Adventure!

In this overstuffed escapade starring the cast from Who Asked the Moon to Dinner? , cousins Isaac and Trixie pet-sit a ravenous cat named Mister Schmupsle. "That's Shhhhh as in quiet, Mup, and Sell, as in sell toasters!... Make sure Mr. Schmupsle gets water, but no more food!" babbles the cat's muddle-headed owner, darting out the door. Try as they might (and they don't try very hard) the children cannot stop the hippo-size cat from devouring an ABC of vittles, starting with apricot jam, butter and cheese. Murray, an animator, pictures the balloon-shaped cat careening through an Italian restaurant and feasting on lasagna, meatballs, noodles, olives and pizza. In cacophonous paintings crowded with flying-saucer ovals, kidney curves and retro-'50s décor, Murray shows the cat rolling down the street, with its belly supported by a little red wagon and the smiling children clinging to its back. Strangely enough, "Mr. Schmupsle gobbled right past the letter K." When the cat crashes into an animal hospital at the conclusion, everyone finds out about the missing letter: "K is for kittens! All 132 of them!"—and the outcome explains the cat's roundness. Mr. ("Mr.... was really Mrs.") Schmupsle never reappears and only two of the alleged 132 kittens are pictured. Murray lards his sentences with exclamation points and gives everyone a wacky name, but the wackiness does not compensate for the weak humor. Ages 3-8. (Sept.)