A cat and a dog run a little village shop, but nobody ever pays! A story by Beatrix Potter, from her 1909 picture book.
🛒 The story in brief
Ginger the cat and Pickles the dog keep a little village shop. They let every customer take things now and pay later, and the customers buy lots and lots. But nobody ever pays!
With no money, Ginger and Pickles eat their own biscuits and fish, and they cannot pay their bills. They close the shop, and Pickles finds a new job. At the end, Sally Henny Penny the hen opens the shop again, and everyone pays as they go.
📖 The story, part by part
Tap “Read it to me” to listen, or read each part with a grown-up. The green boxes show Beatrix Potter's own words.
Part 1
A little village shop
Beatrix Potter wrote: “Once upon a time there was a village shop.”
The name over the window was “Ginger and Pickles.” It was just the right size for dolls, and the counter was just the right height for rabbits.
The shop sold nearly everything: red spotty handkerchiefs, sugar, and even galoshes, which are rubber boots.
Part 2
Ginger and Pickles
Ginger was a yellow tom-cat, and Pickles was a terrier dog. They kept the shop together.
Lots of animals came to shop: rabbits, mice and dolls. The mice were a little shy of Ginger, so Pickles helped the mice, and Ginger helped the other customers.
Part 3
Pay me another time
Beatrix Potter wrote: “Ginger and Pickles gave unlimited credit.”
Giving credit means that when a customer buys a bar of soap, she does not pay right away. She says she will pay another time. Pickles makes a low bow, and it is written down in a book.
The customers came in crowds and bought lots of things, but nobody ever paid. There was no money in the till!
Part 4
Supper by candle-light
With no money, Ginger and Pickles could not buy food. So they had to eat things from their own shop.
Beatrix Potter wrote: “Pickles ate biscuits and Ginger ate a dried haddock.”
They ate them by candle-light after the shop was closed. A haddock is a kind of fish.
Part 5
Sums and sums
Pickles needed a dog licence. That is a paper every dog like him had to buy, but he had no money for it.
So Ginger and Pickles went into the back room to count up what everyone owed them.
Beatrix Potter wrote: “They did accounts. They added up sums and sums, and sums.”
Samuel Whiskers the rat owed them a lot of money for bacon!
Part 6
A toy policeman
Then they heard a noise in the shop. There was an envelope on the counter, and a little policeman writing in a notebook!
Pickles barked and barked. But it was only a toy policeman doll.
Beatrix Potter wrote: “He had bead eyes, and his helmet was sewed on with stitches.”
The doll went away, but the envelope stayed. Inside was a bill that Ginger and Pickles had to pay, and they had no money.
Part 7
A shop for everybody
So Ginger and Pickles closed the shop. Pickles became a gamekeeper, who looks after the woods.
Everyone missed the shop. Then Sally Henny Penny the hen opened it again! She asked everyone to pay with money, right away.
On the first day the shop was full of customers, and there were mice all over the biscuit tins.
Beatrix Potter wrote: “There is something to please everybody.”
💛 Big idea
Saying “pay me later” to everyone did not work. Ginger and Pickles were friendly, but when nobody paid, they had no money for food or bills. Sally Henny Penny asked for money right away, and on her first day the shop was full.
🐱 Meet the characters
Ginger
A yellow tom-cat who keeps the shop. The mice are a little shy of him.
Pickles
A terrier dog who keeps the shop with Ginger. He makes a low bow to every customer.
The customers
Rabbits, mice and dolls who shop at Ginger and Pickles. They love to buy, but they never pay!
Sally Henny Penny
A busy hen who opens the shop again at the end. She asks everyone to pay right away.
🛒 What happened?
What a busy shop! Look at each picture, read the clue, and tap the right answer.
For grown-ups: every clue comes from Beatrix Potter's story. Tap 🔈 to hear each one.
1. What did Pickles eat when there was no money?
2. Where was it written down when a customer did not pay?
3. What did Ginger eat for supper?
4. What did the toy policeman leave on the counter?
5. What light did they eat their supper by?
6. Who opened the shop again at the end?
Score: 0 of 6
🔤 New words
Tap 🔈 to hear a word and what it means.
customer
A person who comes into a shop to buy things.
credit
When you take something now and promise to pay for it later.
till
The drawer in a shop where the money is kept.
accounts
Adding up the money a shop gets and the money it is owed.
bill
A paper that says how much money you have to pay.
licence
A paper that says you are allowed to do or have something.
🐶 The Ginger and Pickles quiz
How much do you remember? Tap the right answer for each question.
For grown-ups: each question has a 🔈 button so pre-readers can hear it. Works with a keyboard too (Tab to move, Enter to choose).
1. What kind of animal is Ginger?
2. What kind of animal is Pickles?
3. What does giving credit mean?
4. Why did the shop run out of money?
5. Who was the policeman in the shop?
6. Who kept the other shop, where you had to pay right away?
Score: 0 of 6
💬 Let's talk about it
There are no wrong answers. Talk with a grown-up or a friend.
Would you like to shop at Ginger and Pickles? Why?
Why do you think the customers never paid?
What could Ginger and Pickles have done to keep their shop open?
If you had a shop, what would you sell?
Have you ever saved up to buy something? What was it?