Billy Rosemberg

Will volunteers to watch a neighbor's dog for the afternoon, but the Great Dane has different ideas about how they should spend their time. // When Dad accidentally backs over Will's bike, it looks like time for a new one. But Will stubbornly refuses to get a new one... he wants the old one back.

Mom says Will is old enough to go to Sam's house by himself (through a fence, on the other side of the grotto). DeWitt reminds Will about famous explorers whose expeditions went wrong. As mom watches from the upstairs window, Will sets of with a compass, water and every other emergency supply he can think of, to face the perilous journey. // Will plants potato seed and can't wait for it to grow.

Will needs a second action figure to play the villain in a Frogboy game, and borrows Kate's Stompin Sam doll. Then loses it. He's got to retrace his steps and figure out where it got to, before his sister comes home from the market with Mom. // Will gets Fred's old glove and bat and signs up for baseball.

Will is assigned the job of watching younger sister Kate for 20 minutes while Mom does laundry. Responsibility! Opportunity! // Mom and Dad are Spring Cleaning, and ask Will to clean his room and closet. But how to clear a "mess" away when every single thing in your room is a priceless treasure?

A waitress calls Will "Sir"... and he thinks he's become a Grown Up. The responsibilities! The things he has to learn! Meanwhile, Dewitt silently worries: does this mean his playful, silly best friend will soon be too grown-up to goof around with him? // Will gets permission to stay up until 10:30 p.m. to watch a lunar eclipse, beginning an exciting journey into a traditionally adults-only domain: night-time, where a single yawn can be "an automatic...

Will trades a comic book for something cool on the playground… and enjoys the transaction so much, he just keeps on trading. // Will's parents think he's old enough this year to write his own thank-you cards for his birthday gifts. Mostly an easy task... but how can you be "grateful and sincere" for a plastic box of hankerchiefs from a crazy Great Aunt?

Will is finally tall enough to go on the rollercoaster at the County Fair. But he doesn't want to be. // Every child in Will's class has to draw a self-portrait for display in the new school Art Cabinet. But how to get an accurate likeness when your own drawings are coming to life and mocking you?

The "lunch table" at school decides it's Will's turn tomorrow to tell everyone a funny joke. But Will doesn't know any jokes! He turns to the Grotto pals for comical advice. // Will's family goes on an outing to a different place each Saturday. Museum, park, movie, hiking, zoo. This weekend, Will's choosing the location…amisdst unsubtle hints and pressure from all family members, plus Dewitt.

When Will gets his picture in the paper, everyone his parents know start phoning the house, and he's famous. People in stores recognize him. Friends treat him differently. Dewitt has to help Will keep his head straight... until the photo of a cow that can stand on 2 legs replaces him in the limelight. // When the small creek of Dewitt's idyllic childhood clogs up with garbage, Will organizes an effort to clean it up.

Sam whispers a secret to Will and makes him promise not to tell. But the secret seems to have a mind of its own. // Will has a line in the school play. Dewitt coaches him to be the very best talking tree trunk he can be.