So, Meilo

So, Meilo

Personal

Born in Hong Kong (now China); daughter of a calligrapher; married; children: Ming. Education: Attended Brighton College of Art (Brighton, England).

Addresses

Home —Shetland Isles, United Kingdom. Agent —c/o Author Mail, Harcourt International, 6277 Sea Harbor Dr., Orlando, FL 32887.

Career

Illustrator.

Writings

SELF-ILLUSTRATED

Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Slop: A Tale of a Very Greedy Cat, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2004.

ILLUSTRATOR

H. D. Andersen, reteller, The Emperor and the Nightingale, Bradbury Press (New York, NY), 1992.

Barbara Ker Wilson, reteller, Wishbones: A Folk Tale from China, Bradbury Press (New York, NY), 1993.

Antonia Barber, The Monkey and the Panda, Macmillan Books for Young Readers (New York, NY), 1995.

Jack Prelutsky, Beauty of the Beast: Poems, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 1997.

Judy Sierra, Tasty Baby Belly Buttons: A Japanese Folktale, Knopf (New York, NY), 1998.

Mary Joslin, The Tale of the Heaven Tree, Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1999.

Jack Prelutsky, The Twentieth-Century Children's Poetry Treasury, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 1999.

Mary Ann Hoberman, "It's Simple," Said Simon, Knopf (New York, NY), 2001.

Kevin Crossley-Holland, reteller, The Ugly Duckling, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2001.

Jean Davies Okimoto, The White Swan Express: A Story about Adoption, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Janet Schulman, Countdown to Spring: An Animal Counting Book, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2002.

Nina Simonds, Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities, and Recipes, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 2002.

Marilyn Singer, Footprints on the Roof: Poems about the Earth, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2002.

Janet Schulman, A Bunny for All Seasons, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2003.

Marilyn Singer, How to Cross a Pond: Poems about Water, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2003.

E. E. Cummings, Fairy Tales, Liveright (New York, NY), 2004.

Jack Prelutsky, Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2005.

Marilyn Singer, Central Heating: Poems about Fire and Warmth, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2005.

Antoine O. Flatharta, Hurry and the Monarch, Alfred A. Knopf (New York, NY), 2005.

Jane Ann Peddicord, Special Little Baby, Harcourt (Orlando, FL), 2007.

Sidelights

Hong Kong-born illustrator Meilo So has created a unique graphic style that has gained her acclaim internationally. The daughter of a calligrapher, So was raised in a family that valued creativity, and she eventually studied art at England's Brighton College of Art. After completing her education, So took time to travel throughout Europe, sketching all the while and practicing her craft. Now working as an illustrator, she has contributed her talent to numerous children's book, and has also created the original work Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Slop: A Tale of a Very Greedy Cat.

In Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Slop So retells a classic Indian folktale about a gluttonous cat with an extraordinary appetite. One day the cat and a parrot friend agree to prepare a meal for each other; the cat prepares three grains of rice for the parrot, and the parrot prepares 500 cakes for the cat. Upon finishing the cakes, the hungry kitty demands more food, but the parrot has none to offer. In feline fashion, the cat proceeds to eat the parrot, and continues to gobble up everything and everyone in its path, including an old woman who scolds him, and a sultan and his bride, among others. As the
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cat gets larger and larger, it also becomes increasingly unhappy. Finally, when it gobbles up a pair of sharpclawed crabs, the cat's victims manage to escape. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called So's picture book "a thoroughly satisfying cautionary tale that youngsters will clamor to take off the shelf for another look." Grace Oliff, writing in School Library Journal, also praised Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Slop, calling it "a tasty addition to folklore or picture-book shelves," while a Kirkus Reviewer critic suggested that the book "should be in every storyteller's repertoire."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 1997, Hazel Rochman, review of The Beauty and the Beast: Poems from the Animal Kingdom, p. 552; October 1, 1999, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Tale of the Heaven Tree, p. 374; December 15, 1999, Hazel Rochman, review of The Twentieth-Century Children's Poetry Treasury, p. 783; March 15, 2004, GraceAnne A. DeCandido, review of Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Slop: A Tale of a Very Greedy Cat, p. 1311.

Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2001, review of The Ugly Duckling, p. 1209; January 1, 2002, review of Countdown to Spring: An Animal Counting Book, p. 50; December 1, 2002, review of A Bunny for All Seasons, p. 1773; July 1, 2003, review of How to Cross a Pond: Poems about Water, p. 915; January 15, 2004, review of Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Slop, p. 89.

Publishers Weekly, September 14, 1992, review of The Emperor and the Nightingale, p. 123; May 17, 1999, review of Tasty Baby Belly Buttons, p. 78; August 30, 1999, review of The Tale of the Heaven Tree, p. 75; October 4, 1999, review of The Twentieth-Century Children's Poetry Treasury, p. 72; December 24, 2001, review of Countdown to Spring!: An Animal Counting Book, p. 62; March 1, 2004, review of Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Slop, p. 68.

School Library Journal, March, 2000, Patricia Pearl Dole, review of The Tale of the Heaven Tree, p. 209; November, 2002, Ginny Gustin, review of Moonbeams, Dumplings, and Dragon Boats: A Treasury of Chinese Holiday Tales, Activities, and Recipes, p. 192; February, 2003, Andrea Tarr, review of A Bunny for All Seasons, p. 122; February, 2003, Rosalyn Pierini, review of The White Swan Express: A Story about Adoption, p. 119; August, 2003, Sally R. Dow, review of How to Cross a Pond, p. 152; February, 2004, Grace Oliff, review of Gobble, Gobble, Slip, Slop, p. 140.

ONLINE

TheArtWorksInc.com, http://www.theartworksinc.com/ (June 11, 2005), "Meilo So."

British Book Trust Web site, http://www.booktrusted.co.uk/ (June 11, 2005), "Spotlight on … Meilo So."