Stephanie witnesses the deterioration of her inner-city neighborhood and school. There are gangs and violence on the street, and chaos in the school. Stephanie decides to “light her candle” against the darkness. After convincing her two friends, they begin with one simple act of kindness.

Proud Rooster, always ignoring everyone’s advice, gets into all sorts of trouble. Filling his tummy with green strawberries, falling off a tree while showing off, and skating on thin ice after being repeatedly warned, nearly do him in.

Nicholas knows that guarding the family’s sheep is important, but he also thinks it’s one of the most boring jobs in the world. He decides to make his day more exciting by shouting “Wolf!” so the townspeople will run to help. His practical joke is a huge success from his point of view, but the townspeople are furious.

Even though Randy is much loved at home, he has a serious problem—everything he has is old! His rich neighbor Mike, who often teases him, has a new bike, new toys, and never does chores. Randy, however, rides an old bike, has old toys, and has to do all kinds of work around the house. Though Randy is often reminded that “things don’t bring happiness,” he desperately wishes he could be rich so he could buy everything new.