This seems like Jane Thayer's best story so far. The Popcorn Dragon, Sandy and the Seventeen Balloons etc. were fun, but this has a certain unpretentiousness and a practical truth that puts it out in front. To keep from being lonely, Mrs. Perrywinkle buys three pets- two cats, Gallagher and Ginsburg, and a beagle, Sam. However, she is so kind to them that they soon make her life miserable- what with one whim and another- until she learns she must be the boss and that the pets will still love her anyway. Paul Galdone draws all this frustration and bliss with a tickling pen and brush.