William Pène du Bois

Relates the incredible adventures of Professor William Waterman Sherman who in 1883 sets off in a balloon across the Pacific, survives the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa, and is eventually picked up in the Atlantic.

The ingenuity of ten-year-old Bottsford enables the three policemen of an isolated idyllic isle to catch the thieves who have been stealing the islanders' fish and fishing nets.

William's father gives him a basketball and a train but these do not make him want a doll less.

Emily's father takes care of everything the day she has a "stomach ache in her head."