When their home next to a brook is destroyed by beavers, a large family of golden mice is aided by Poppy the deer mouse and her grumpy porcupine friend, who in the process forges a relationship with the son he had abandoned.

Feeling neglected on his birthday, Ereth, the cantankerous old porcupine, sets out looking for his favorite treat and instead finds himself acting as "mother" to three young fox kits.

"Developed by literacy experts for students in kindergarten through grade three, this book introduces hedgehogs and porcupines to young readers through leveled text and related photos"--

Poppy, accompanied by her troublesome son Junior, his skunk friend, and Uncle Ereth the porcupine, responds to a summons to return to her ancestral home, Gray House, to save the mice there from destruction by a bulldozer.

After Poppy's husband dies from pneumonia and she is accidentally carried away by a bat, Ereth, a porcupine, starts planning her funeral service, but Spruce--Poppy's grandson--does not believe Poppy to be dead, and goes off to search for her.