Spending most of a year with relatives on a farm in southern Sweden while his parents are busy building a new house in town, a young boy finds inner strengths and unexpected sources of entertainment.
When eight-year-old Cora is sent to stay next door with the seemingly pleasant woman called Aunt Sunday, she is tormented by Aunt Sunday's mean-spirited, deceitful daughter, but finds an ally in Aunt Sunday's elderly mother.
In 1938 Wisconsin, when twelve-year-old Franny's father loses his job as a hired hand and has to go looking for work, the family members doubt their self-reliance as they face again the hard times they had hoped were gone for good.
A teenage boy goes on a secret hunting trip alone in an effort to come to terms with his leukemia and to test his strength and resourcefulness in battling the elements and stalking the whitetailed deer that is his quarry.
Little Bear does a good job of climbing rocks, bouncing on a tree branch, and crossing a stream, but Big Bear is always there to lend a helping hand when needed.
The Big Ones try to help a young polar bear learn how to glide on the ice, but she gets bumped so much that she decides it isn't any fun--until she spends time learning on her own.
