Henry Wiloby is a young man, the middle child of five, born into an extremely energetic and involved homeschooling family. But Henry is teased because he has a stuttering problem and feels the wounds of humiliation deeply. So instead of finding friends his own age, Henry's active imagination provides relationships among the characters of the books he reads. Throughout the course of the story he visits with Robin Hood, various animals in The Wind and the Willows, Aladdin, and the children in The Secret Garden. Allowing the stories to come alive in his mind is the most the most thrilling thing ever to happen in his rather sheltered life. But Henry quickly becomes alarmed when he finds himself no longer in control of where and when he goes, or of what happens to him when he gets there. Fortunately, Henry has developed a solid friendship with an older man, Nehemiah Custard, who gives him a framework from which to enjoy his adventures as well as a glimpse into a world that is far more real than any he has yet experienced. Through stories dramatically retold from the Bible and living parables using the animals and objects around his picturesque stone cottage, Nehemiah unveils a spiritual world existing in and throughout the ordinary world that Henry plods through every day. Henry is truly enraptured. With Nehemiah's help, Henry learns to break out of the shackles that have bound him in fear for so long.