A Guest Is a Guest - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 3-- The Beanbuckets, who hold their farm animals in the highest regard, find out that hospitality can get out of hand. Billy Beanbuckets has developed a special friendship with a clever little piglet, Oliver. When Oliver spends the night in the house, the "foot in the door" scenario is played out to the hilt--all the pigs enter. When they are soon joined by hens, horses, cows, and ducks, the Beanbuckets resort to a brilliant case of gentle persuasion by moving to the barn. The animals watch and are soon lured back to their former lifestyle. A very satisfying surprise conclusion shows Himmelman's grasp of childhood logic. These creatures display as much personality and range of facial expressions as their human hosts. The pictures, while large enough to share with a group, also invite closer examination, which will reveal many a comic detail (including a family picture of the Beanbuckets on the barn wall). This story of agrarian chaos would be a good companion to Chicken Tricks (HarperCollins, 1983) by Megan Lloyd. --Lisa S. Murphy, Dauphin County Library System, Harrisburg, PA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"A guest is a guest, and we must show them our best" is the Beanbuckets family motto--one that apparently extends even to guests of the four-legged and feathered varieties. But the animals and birds on the Beanbuckets farm have obviously not heard Oscar Wilde's maxim about fish and guests (both start to smell after a few days), and soon the family is sharing its home (and its table, TV, shower et al.) with the entire barnyard. Finally Farmer B. cries, "When enough is enough, you have to get tough," but it's young Billy Beanbuckets who hatches the idea that saves the day. Himmelman ( The Ups and Downs of Simpson Snail ; Amanda & the Witch Switch ) has created a droll delight, and the book's final page, depicting the Beanbuckets and their menagerie cozily asleep--in the barn--is bound to elicit howls of laughter. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.