Mummy is busy working and it's Sammy's day to look after young John Joe; but Sammy gets bored and goes off to play with his friend Willie Brennan. So his older sister Mary sets off for the Brennans's farm, dragging John Joe along with her. Mary leaves John Joe on his own in the farmyard while she runs off to get Sammy. Then the Brennans's big hen comes up to look at John Joe, and to the little boy, the hen seems awfully big indeed! It might eat him, he thinks. He climbs the wall, shouting for Mrs Brennan, Mary and Mammy, but no one comes to rescue him. So he runs away. When Mary returns with Sammy, they search for John Joe all over the farm, but they cannot find him. So they send Splinter, the dog, to sniff him out and, at last, they discover their little brother, asleep in a cornfield. Martin Waddell has written "Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?" (Winner of the 1989 Smarties Book Prize and the Kate Greenaway Medal), "Let's Go Home Little Bear", "The Park in the Dark", (Winner of the 1989 Emil Maschler Award), "Rosie's Babies", (Winner of the 1990 Best Books for Babies Award), "Farmer Duck" (Winner of the 1991 Smarties Book Prize), "The Hidden House" "Squeak-A-Lot", "the Tough Princess", the "Little Dracula" stories, "Sailor Bear", "Owl Babies", "Little Mo", "The Pig in the Pond" and "The Big, Big Sea". Paul Howard has illustrated the picture book "Rosie's Fishing Trip" by Amy Hest, "Jim's Winter" by Kathy Henderson, "Taking the Cat's Way Home" by Jan Mark, "Friends Next Door" and "A Very Special Birthday", both by Susan Hill.