Elmer Blunt's Open House

A dozen straightforward sentences--and page after page crowded with panels of uproariously funny pictures--tell the diverting tale of what happens when Elmer Blunt leaves his door ajar one day. First, eight animals wander in and make themselves at home--creating a merry mess in the process. The next visitor, a masked robber with a wonderfully wicked grin, fills his sack with unlikely booty (including a roll of toilet paper) before entering the bedroom, where the frightened menagerie is huddled in the closet. ``Furs!'' he exclaims, misjudging the animals, who (draped with articles of clothing) then chase the intruder downstairs ``and out the door, slamming it behind him.'' Though this rollicking slapstick would have been enough to make kids howl with laughter, there's more: when the intruders find they can't leave the house, they hide under the bed while an oblivious Elmer cleans up, and at last escape out the window as he sleeps ``in his safe, quiet home.'' Since Novak's ( While the Shepherd Slept ) gleeful, high-spirited art tells the story so adeptly, this is a great one for preschoolers to ``read'' solo. Ages 3-6. (Sept.)