Stanley's Party

Reviewed: June 4, 2004
By: Linda Bailey / illustrated by Bill Slavin
Publisher: Kids Can Press
32 pages, $16.95

Ever wonder what your dog gets up to when you're not at home? Stanley's people never did. They went out a lot and hardly ever came home before midnight. They trusted him totally. That was a mistake.

It did take a while for Stanley to chose to bend the rules, but the time came when he decided to live a little. He started with the couch. There was no way he was ever allowed on the couch, but he spent an entire evening on the soft cushions, sniffing the leather trim - and they never knew.

The next night Stanley discovered the stereo, which he was able to activate with his nose. Dancing was a lot of fun.

The next night Stanley opened the fridge and cleaned out the leftover lasagna. As always he tidied up after himself and left no clues.

It was when Stanley decided to share his fun that he got into trouble. He'd only invited five other dogs, but they invited friends too, and while it was probably the best dog-gone party ever, it came to an abrupt and unpleasant end when Stanley's folks came home early.

After that, Stanley spent a lot of time in the back seat of the car while his folks were out. He didn't mind. As for the party, it became a legend. Any dog can tell you about it.

This is a quite delightful romp from the team of Bailey and Slavin. Both text and art are nicely tongue in cheek and they've produced a great variation on the old "one thing leads to another" plot.

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