Max Lucado

Two stories featuring Punchinello, the carved wooden boy who, in the first tale, tries to prove his worth by amassing more boxes and balls than anyone else, and in the second, learns that keeping up with fads is difficult and that his creator, Eli, has given each person in the town of Wemmick different characteristics on purpose.

On "Hatday," Ivan expects his father the hatmaker to present him with a hat that matches his character and talents, but he becomes confused when the other villagers also give him headgear more appropriate to their own interests.

Punchinello's opinion of himself change after talking to his creator.

As shipwrecked brothers Argo and Arion wait on the silent, gray island of Terrene for their captain to return and take them to their new home, they ponder his warning about avoiding the local forest and mountain.

In a village where everyone has been carved from wood, an uppity Miss Bess Stovall claims her maple "ancestree" is superior until the day a shunned willow fellow saves her life.

A young cat is afraid of such things as a marching band, the elephant at the zoo, a crawling caterpillar, and a ticking clock, but there is a prayer to God that he can recite which will make him feel happy and cheerful.

Shaddai, a wise and loving man, builds a wonderful village for his children, but when one of them chooses to go out into the dangerous wilderness, Shaddai does not abandon him.