Twelve-year old Norman Jespers-Volniusis stuck in a cottage in the sleepy British countryside for a summer with his parents and ultra-irritating younger sister, Dora. Things really couldn't be any duller for Norman...that is, until he finds himself smack in the middle of a children's adventure story he's dug out of the house's dusty library. Soon Norman is plotting to rescue his dear friend Malcolm, the loyal stoat, from the story's ever more dangerous and difficult plot turns.