When Hank's class takes a field trip to the zoo, he quickly gets lost after his partner (and nemesis) ditches him. Unable to read the map, Hank wanders and finds himself locked in a habitat with Elsie, an elephant recently rescued and kept isolated. He begins a game of soccer with her, and they become fast friends. But when Hank notices how lonely Elsie is, he's determined to help her find her own animal friends.

Paige Owens, bright, cheeky, confident, cannot wait to go to secondary school. Curtis Okafor, wary and much less confident, is not so sure. The only thing they share in common is the first letter of their surnames - which ensures they are forced into each other's company on a school trip to Wickworth Manor, the local stately home. Then Curtis finds a portrait in his bedroom of a young black servant dressed in livery. But why is the portrait hidden...

Isadora makes a new friend when she meets a lonely little ghost on a school trip to a castle.