BEATRICE AND VANESSA

Beatrice the ewe and Vanessa the nanny-goat, who have spent 40 years nattering together at the same gate, decide to take a vacation--and as they have nothing of their own to pack they borrow from the farmhouse an old shopping bag and a wolf head hung with balloons (seems the farmers are sleeping off a party). Employing both their wits and their unusual baggage, the two animals save themselves from a pack of lean, hungry wolves and a fat bear who has them up a tree (a nice touch of gentle absurdity), and go home. But now as they continue their conversation at the gate, ""they really have got something to talk about."" This is not much more remarkable than the old friends' everyday lives, but Quentin Blake's amiable sketches have an easygoing air that complements the unpretentious telling.