Wiglaf and his friends Angus and Erica find themselves teamed with the obnoxious Bragwort to represent the Dragon Slayers' Academy in an unevenly matched contest at the All-Schools Brain-Power Tournament.
Mama Bear's reminders about the true meaning of Thanksgiving are left in the dust as the spirit of competition takes over and Papa Bear and the cubs begin a campaign to win first prize in the Thanksgiving Pumpkin contest.
A class visit to the Gross-Me-Out exhibit at the science museum inspires Stink Moody to create a variety of terrible smells to put on the sneakers he plans to enter in the World's Worst Super-Stinky Sneaker contest.
Arthur really wants to enter a song in the Crunch Cereal Jingle Contest, but when he cannot come up with a good idea, he enters a song his sister wrote instead.
Twelve-year-old Ben must cope with the loss of his father, who died the year before, and his mother's overprotectiveness when he enters the annual Striped Bass Derby on Martha's Vineyard.
Four students, with their own individual stories, develop a special bond and attract the attention of their teacher, a paraplegic, who chooses them to represent their sixth-grade class in the Academic Bowl competition.
