Just before sleeping, a small boy finds a crate of ancient toys: a little circus, lead soldiers and a book about circus legend Antonio Franconi - whose dream was creating a great show mixing all possible forms of art.

Film adaption of the novel by Jean Craighead George. A family movie made by Paramount Studios, the story revolves around thirteen-year old Sam Gribley (Teddy Eccles), a devotee of Thoreau, as many were back in the in 1960's. Sam decides to leave the city (set in Toronto) to spend a sabbatical in the Canadian woods and see if he can make it as a self-sufficient spirit after his parents promise a summer trip that doesn't pan out.

A vixen mother invades a chicken coop to provide food for her cubs. She continues to raid the coop until she is shot by a farmer. The cubs are attacked by the farmer and only one survives. An otter trapped in a burrow is rescued by 10-year-old Anders and his six-year-old brother, Kjell. In secret, the boys cage the animal and finally domesticate it. They obtain food for the Otter by fishing through the ice on a frozen lake. The boys manage to keep their secret from their family. On the eve of the May Day festival, Kjell reveals to family and friends the otter's presence. Anders is so distressed that he runs into the woods with the otter. The otter breaks away and returns to its life of natural freedom. The film was a prize winner at the 1954 Cannes Film Festival.