Young Peter Black has a bad reputation in town for telling wild stories. Father Allen has given him work as a sexton, but this may be his very last chance at a job. So, what is Peter to do when he happens upon a cat coronation in the church in the dead of night? How can he convince Father Allen that this isn’t just one more wild story? And why is Father Allen’s cat staring at him like that?
Explore the mystery in this much expanded and highly imaginative retelling of an old English favorite.

The title character is Pollyanna Whittier, a young orphan who goes to live in Beldingsville, Vermont, with her wealthy but stern Aunt Polly. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centers on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. It originated in an incident one Christmas when Pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches inside. Making the game up on the spot, Pollyanna's father taught her to look at the good side of things—in this case, to be glad about the crutches because "we don't need 'em!".

George Kranky, a small boy who lives on a farm with his mother, father and grandmother, is fed up of his Grandma's selfishness, grumpiness and her attitude towards him. George seeks to cure it by brewing a special medicine to cure her (made from every harmful product in the house, and several animal medicines from his father's shed), only to end up making his Grandma as tall as a house. While this does not improve her disposition, it does make her happier. George's father Mr. Killy Kranky (a farmer) and mother come home; when the father sees the giant hen (produced by the medicine given to the hen to prove to Grandma that the reason she is that huge is because of his medicine, although this attempt is failed), he is excited while the mother is first in shock and then starts to ignore the grandmother.

Danny's mother died suddenly when he was only four months old and from then on he lived with his father in an old Gypsy vardo at the back of a filling station, where his father fixed cars. By the time Danny was seven years old, he was able to take apart, and then put back together, a switch motor.

Danny's father owned the filling station, and it was the only piece of land for miles around that was not owned by a wealthy but unpleasant local man called Mr. Victor Hazell. After Mr. Hazell threatened Danny and Danny's father subsequently refused to give him service, various inspectors came to visit them, including a health inspector who said he was concerned about the condition of the caravan, and another inspector who wanted to check that the petrol being sold was of an adequate standard. Danny's father was convinced that Mr. Hazell was having these inspectors sent in to try and drive them out, and this made him furious.....