It's a big day for a little girl when she discovers her first loose tooth and makes a trip to the grocery store on the mainland.

Peter Hatcher describes his family's Maine vacation highlighted by the antics of his younger brother Fudge and the presence of his sworn enemy Sheila Tubman and her family.

When a circus ship runs aground off the coast of Maine, the animals are left on their own to swim to a nearby island. They soon win over the wary townspeople with their kind, courageous ways. So well do they blend in that when the greedy circus owner returns to claim them, the villagers conspire to outsmart the blowhard. Eagle-eyed readers will discover the fate of the circus animals in a rare hidden-pictures spread.