[1] Six children plan a camping trip during the Easter holidays, deciding on Brown Clee Hill as it is out of the way of summer visitors.

Meanwhile an Alsatian dog of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps escapes while on his way to retraining by the National Canine Defence League after being retired due to partial deafness.

For reading in camp, Bron takes Rosemary Sutcliff's novel Warrior Scarlet, about a boy in Bronze Age Britain whose test of manhood is the single-handed killing of a wolf.

He describes the camping scenes as beautifully done, conveying a sense of adventure and good companionship, but he regards the novel as primarily concerned with the development of personality.

"[4] Porter and Nordy Bank won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association for 1964, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.