A child explores the ordinary life of his extraordinary great-grandfather, as expressed in his topiary garden.

When the teacher tells his class that they can hear the poetry of science in everything, a student is struck with a curse and begins hearing nothing but science verses that sound very much like some well-known poems.

"Henry P. Baloney may be from another planet, but he's got problems just like you. If he doesn't come up with one very good excuse for being late, his teacher is promising him Permanent Lifelong Detention. This is Henry's story. It's about amazing adventures and near misses. It's about the life-saving importance of imagination when you are in a tight spot. It's also about that weird feeling you get when you are learning to read and every other word...

When the teacher tells her class that they can think of almost everything as a math problem, one student acquires a math anxiety which becomes a real curse.