The Pig is in the Pantry, the Cat is on the Shelf

The Pig is in the Pantry, the Cat is on the Shelf by Shirley Mozelle          Hardback Book:  32 pages                 

When Mr. McDuffel, the farmer, has to go run some errands, and forgets to lock his door on the way out.  The animals out in the barnyard decide to go inside his house for some fun.    Mr. McDuffel’s cat who lives in the house, freaks out and jumps up on the shelf watching the menagerie come in and take over (the cow, the goose, the horse, the duck, the goat, the pig,  etc.) .   The pig goes in and starts pulling stuff out of the pantry and makes them all some biscuits from the ingredients he found, they all pitch in and come up with enough food for a good filling buffet meal for all of them.   After that they play and seeing clothes decide to play dress-up pulling clothing out of the closet and drawers in the bureau, etc.    They have a lovely time dressing up in shirts, ties, scarves, etc. and dance as though they were attending a fancy dress up ball.   They are so full and have played so much that they get sleepy and all spread out around the living room finding good nap spots, the cow in the recliner, the horse on the sofa, the duck laying on top of the horse’s chest,  the others finding spots on the floor to snuggle up under blankets and on pallets they made of the clothes they had dressed up in.   The time is recorded on the top corner of the pages showing what Mr. McDuffel is up to and what the animals are up to at the same time.    Before you know it Mr. McDuffel is back home and comes in to find, clothes strewn here and there and all the barnyard animals in different places around the room taking a nap.   He is not pleased and makes all the animals leave and go back outside.   At least the horse had swept the kitchen floor and the cow had done the dishes after they had eaten.   Things weren’t too untidy just in slight disarray from the strewn clothes they had been playing with.   All in all I think everybody had a good time, but, I bet Mr. McDuffel remembers to lock the door next time.   The cat was glad to have the house back to him and Mr. McDuffel.     Cute book, yes, I recommend this and think it would be a fun storytime book.   I would have a blast with this one – we would be up acting it out along with the animals.   J

- Shirley J.