This retelling of a story traditional to the Irular tribe of southern India is a welcome variant on the tale of an enormous turnip and that of Noah's Ark. Pattan and his wife, Kanni, live in harmany with their animals, tending their vegetable garden. When Pattan finds an ailing plant he decides to nurture it. This turns out to be a pumpkin which grows and grows until he needs to 'climb on the elephant's back' to check it. When a flood threatens to destroy their home he is helped by his animals to hollow out the pumpkin so they can escape inside it, with all the bugs, birds and beetles, seeds of every grain and saplings of every tree. Artist Frane Lessac's naive style illustrations with their gloriously bright colours offer a charming accompaniment to the story.