No one says "please" or "thank you." Instead, they kick and yell and punch and shove. Then one day everything changes, when Baby Brute happens upon "a little wandering lost good feeling in a field of daisies." When he brings it home in his pocket, nothing is ever the same for the Little Brute Family.

    Companion tales: The Thanksgiving Visitor and A Christmas Memory in one boxed edition.

    Katie Rose feels sorry for Gil as he tells her of his wealthy parents' neglect of him. Gil tells her that he was "born under a dark star;" Katie Rose attempts to help him, never realizing that her interest in Gil could cause her to choose between this boy and her personal values.

    The introduction calls it a conceptual frame around which to organize your data and your impressions . . . a suggested path.

    But Evan's mother lets him choose his own special corner. Evan fills it with a milk-crate table and chair, a bright painting, and even a pet turtle. But something seems to be missing. . . . Full color.