When a nineteenth-century governor of Texas leaves home to go to an election, he puts his daughter, Ima, in charge of her little brother, Tom. This is easier said than done, especially considering that the Hogg family owns a menagerie of exotic animals, and Tom simply cannot wait to rile them up. So he proceeds to "bother the buffaloes, outrage the ostriches, and panic the pachyderms," all to the consternation (and occasional danger) of Ima. Tom's countrified speech ("I ain't gonna hurt Papa's big hairy cows") will be fun for kids to emulate, and Dupree's chaotic watercolors, full of manic brushstrokes, will have them scrutinizing each page. There are some missed opportunities en the siblings evade the stampeding buffaloes by hiding inside a barrel, Ima is astonished that her dog has one of the buffaloes by the nose, yet that detail is nowhere to be seen. Most enjoyable is the historical footnote revealing the true story of Governor Hogg and his daughter, Ima Hogg name sure to generate some giggles.