Tombo the tadpole declares himself King of the Pond. He brags that he’s the biggest, the fastest, and the strongest tadpole, and he teases and chases all the other tadpoles. But one day while showing off doing a triple flip, Tombo’s life takes a major turn. He’s captured by a boy and taken from his lush pond to a fish tank. There Tombo is fed dry fish flakes, a food he despises.

Three boys grow up in the same drug-infested, gang-ruled, poverty-stricken neighborhood. Nelson becomes a successful doctor, his best friend Jesse, an award-winning architectural engineer, but Nelson’s brother Alvin ends up in jail. In this riveting tale, Nelson relates the story of their childhood, and how, with the love and guidance of his grandparents, they come upon valuable lessons on how against all odds to become successful.

Spike the rebel is a mean-spirited bully in his neighborhood and school. All the kids are afraid of him, except Mary. She warns him that one day his meanness will come back to haunt him. On a family camping trip, Spike steals a canoe, rows past a caution sign, and ends up being thrown over the waterfalls. ( Read more)

When Jane complains to Sam about the crooked rows he has plowed, they decide to switch jobs for a day on their family farm. Both Sam and Jane expect to have lots of free time after each finishes the other’s “easy” job. In this hilarious story, Sam and Jane encounter one calamity after another doing each other’s “easy” chores.