Ma, Pa, and the rest of the family try a variety of amusing things to get their baby to laugh, but he persists in his bad mood until his brother the sheriff arrives with a challenge.
Jack's grandfather is always grumpy and also a bit scary, but during a visit to the country house where his grandfather lives with the brave Aunt Ellie and Uncle Wilbur, Jack learns that his grandfather was once very different.
When a grizzly bear, called Gruff the Grump by other animals, grudgingly listens to a small rabbit's pleas for help, she thanks him with simple gifts that reveal to him how dark and lonely his life has become.
