The Wizard's favorite pet, an upstairs armadillo, is missing. He must be found! The hunt is on, though Emma, Jane, and their brother Anthony don't yet know it. Somehow the upstairs armadillo has ended up in Emma's sock drawer. She's not sure what he is or how he got there. And she doesn't realize that she and her sister Jane have accidentally invited a whole host of the upstairs armadillo's friends to a tea party. Her bedroom quickly becomes overcrowded when a goat, several sheep, a giraffe, a hare, and a whole alphabet full of other animal pop in for cake and games. Their parents must not find out! Charles Alexander, their resident poltergeist, refuses to help. When the family dog sniffs out the tea party, chaos follows. The hunt for the upstairs armadillo takes the children tumbling down meerkat tunnels, stumbling across penguins in Antarctic, splashing about in beaver ponds, and trekking across a desert on the back of a camel - all while being pursued by a very angry Wizard.