Fourteen-year-old Polly Rodgers keeps a diary of her 1873 journey from England to Minnesota as part of a colony of eighty people seeking religious freedom, and of their first year struggling to make a life there, led by her father, a Baptist minister.

Pictures and rhyming text show how some fathers, animal, bird, and human, take care of their children by bringing them food, playing with them, and keeping them safe.

Invites the reader to join a bear and other woodland animals on a cold, moonlit walk to investigate strange noises and observe the arrival of spring.

After Cat is accidentally shut outdoors on a cold, dark Christmas Eve, she makes a promise to Mouseling in order to share his warm bed.