Calling All Kids #4

Twinkle, ever kind, drifts down to Earth to find the flowers drooping and forlorn—until she learns the mice have been causing mischief, heedless of the harm. With a gentle request, she turns to Mister Lightning to help restore peace, hoping to mend what’s been broken.

A wily fox makes off with the picnic basket—and all the food inside—prompting Pug and Curly to set out on a determined hunt to track him down and recover their stolen supplies. Following his footprints through the countryside, the two friends devise a clever trap, but the cunning fox has more than one trick up his sleeve. It's a chase full of mishaps and surprises as hunter and hunted play a game of wit and strategy.

One day Mrs. Chicken needs to sew a patch on her son's clothes, but she's lost her needle and must turn to the farm animals for help searching. As Mrs. Horse, Mrs. Magpie, Mrs. Cow, Pig, and Duck each offer suggestions about where the needle might be, Mrs. Chicken retraces her steps through haystack, barn, and milk pail—but the tiny needle remains stubbornly hidden. With the needle nowhere to be found by ordinary means, Mrs. Chicken and her animal friends try creative new methods to locate the lost item.

A shipwrecked sailor named Robinson Crusoe finds himself stranded alone on a desert island after a terrible storm claims his entire crew, forcing him to survive with whatever supplies he can salvage from his wrecked ship. After twenty-four years of isolation—sustained by goats, a parrot, and the faint hope of rescue—Robinson discovers he's not the island's only inhabitant when he rescues a prisoner from hostile savages and names his new companion Friday. Together, the two form an unlikely partnership and face strange new challenges as they work toward escape from their isolated world.

Jim and Judy head to the beach with their dog Coco, who's terrified of the ocean and keeps running away—leading the kids on a wild chase across the sand. When Coco bolts after an unfortunate encounter with a sunbather, Jim and Judy use a clever trick to track him down and coax him back. By the story's end, the fearful pup discovers that the water isn't so bad after all, and the whole family—including Coco—enjoys a day of beach fun.

A giraffe named Jinx has always felt alone in the zoo because his tiny whispers can't carry far enough for the other animals to hear him—until he accidentally discovers two young birds, Tweedle and Chirpy, who've tumbled from their nest and need his help. When the three become friends and play together, Jinx's inability to speak loudly leads to a mishap that tests their budding bond, but the birds' parents teach them a valuable skill that just might change everything for the lonesome giraffe.

A cat and a dog once shared a home and friendship—until their master's magical wine charm vanishes into a customer's glass, threatening to leave them all in poverty. When the two companions set out to recover the charm across frozen rivers and through distant towns, they'll discover that finding it is only half the battle. This charming tale, told as a story-within-a-story in "The Lost Charm," shows how an unlikely alliance and a promise to the King of the Mice just might save the day.