Jim is afraid of lots of things, but most of all he hates the dark. Big sister, Sarah, teases him one night in bed and tells him a horrid, scary story. When she goes off to sleep, Jim is left with his own vivid imagination (the illustrations are particularly good here). Fear turns to reality when Sarah's pet hamster appears on top of the clothes basket. In trying to catch the hamster (a brave deed because Jim is afraid of Sammy's sharp teeth) chaos ensues. Sarah, half awake, is terrified. When grandma appears on the scene, she thinks Jim has been trying to frighten Sarah, and so the tables are turned. It is a cowed Sarah who requests that the door be left open, and Jim is triumphant. Good on the way children can be unmerciful about each other's fears.