When Arthur catches chicken pox a week before his family is supposed to go to the circus, his sister, jealous of the special treatment he gets, invites a friend to go in her brother's place.
Arthur's experience babysitting for the terrible Tibble Twins is as challenging as he expected, but he finally gets control by telling them a spooky story.
Fern dares Arthur and his friends to enter the poetry writing contest at the local library, but writing poems turns out to be harder than they thought.
D.W. bosses her brother Arthur into carrying her on his shoulders at the beach because she maintains that she hates the water, until she gets a big wet surprise.