A child’s shopping misadventure is built on repetition and rhyme, with page turns that are sure to provoke eager predictions by child listeners. “I went to the shop to get me a carrot. Oh dear, they gave me … [page turn] a parrot!! Oh dear, look what I got! Do I want that? No, I do NOT!” A menagerie of purchases follows: Instead of a hat, they get a cat; instead of a coat, they receive a goat; and so on. The animal medley mounts until a wriggly pup “chased the bear, that stepped on the snake, that hissed at the goat, that butted the cat, that startled the parrot” and bedlam ensues. A knock at the door admits the adults who brokered the original sales, and who now help to round up their respective creatures before walking off in pairs on the end papers. The patterned text and watercolor illustrations impart an old-fashioned sensibility with timeless appeal.

"A guaranteed hit for the storytime set, from a team whose talents haven't aged a day."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

The incomparable creative team behind We're Going on a Bear Hunt reunite for a read-aloud comedy of misunderstandings that has all the hallmarks of a classic.

I went to the shop to get me a carrot.
Oh dear! They gave me . . .
. . . a parrot.
Oh dear! Look what I got.
Do I want that? No, I do NOT!

As a hapless boy goes from shop to shop, requesting a series of perfectly reasonable items--a hat, a coat, a cake, a chair--he finds himself thwarted at every turn, amassing instead a growing menagerie of animals who happily follow him on his errands. It's not until he finally asks for a cup that he's proffered a wriggly creature that solves his dilemma . . . or does it? Adding delicious momentum to Michael Rosen's rhymes (and mastery of the page turn) are an expressive crew of animal characters rendered as only Helen Oxenbury can, making for a timeless story guaranteed to beg many repeat readings. Oh dear!