Christopher has great dreams of becoming an inventor, but he dislikes anything requiring work. When Christopher’s friend and mentor, Dr. Finkle, invents a time remote, his dreams come true! He gets the time remote and avoids all unpleasant activities like math tests and eating vegetables. Who needs to do homework and eat right? Let’s just eat dessert and play!

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.

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.

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.