Proud Rooster, always ignoring everyone’s advice, gets into all sorts of trouble. Filling his tummy with green strawberries, falling off a tree while showing off, and skating on thin ice after being repeatedly warned, nearly do him in.

Androcles lives a miserable life as the slave of a cruel and unjust master. Even though runaway slaves face the death penalty, he flees to the nearby woods. There Androcles delights in his new-found freedom. He also makes an unusual friend: a lion with an injured paw. The two live together happily, but the lion gets captured, and shortly afterwards Androcles, too. Androcles is punished by being fed to a lion.

While a little fun is essential for a happy life, wise individuals know that prosperity begins with hard work. Gary and the other grasshoppers want to play all day, and they cannot understand why the ants work so hard and miss all the fun. Alex and the ants know they must work during the spring to have food for the winter.

To Millie, the whole world is unfair. Even though Millie has a loving family and a nice home, she’s always miserable. She hates to be told what to do, and when things don’t go her way, she complains. Millie finally has enough! She runs away so that she can do whatever she wants to do.