Peter wins a small turtle at his best friend's birthday party and names the pet Dribble.

Mr. Hatcher invites important advertising clients, the Yarbys, to stay at the family's apartment instead of a hotel.

Fudge carries Dribble to the dinner table during the Yarbys' visit, sending Mrs. Yarby into a panic.

Fudge decorates Mrs. Yarby's suitcase with grocery store trading stamps, and the Yarbys leave for a hotel.

Fudge refuses all food for days, and Mrs. Hatcher begs Peter to stand on his head to entertain the toddler.

Mr. Hatcher loses his patience and dumps Fudge's uneaten cereal over the toddler's head in the bathtub.

Fudge climbs to the top of a jungle gym in Central Park, falls off, and loses his two front teeth.

Mrs. Hatcher admits she blamed Peter unfairly for Fudge's accident and apologizes the following morning.

Fudge sneaks into Peter's room and scribbles over the poster Peter and Jimmy made for their school project.

Mr. Hatcher installs a chain lock on Peter's bedroom door to prevent Fudge from getting inside.

The Toddle-Bike company owner sees Fudge at Mr. Hatcher's office and demands the toddler star in a TV commercial.

Mr. Hatcher asks Peter to ride the Toddle-Bike so Fudge will imitate him and the commercial can be filmed.

Peter arrives home to find Dribble missing, and Fudge happily announces he swallowed the turtle.

The doctor shows Peter an X-ray with Dribble clearly visible inside Fudge's stomach.

Mr. Hatcher presents Peter with a puppy meant only for him, and Peter names it Turtle.

Nine-year-old Peter Hatcher wins a turtle named Dribble at his friend's birthday party and becomes deeply attached to the pet. His troublesome toddler brother Fudge causes a series of disasters, including wrecking an important client visit and staging a prolonged hunger strike that exhausts the whole family. A frightening accident in Central Park and Fudge's destruction of a carefully made school poster push Peter's patience to its limits, leading their father to install a lock on Peter's bedroom door. The Toddle-Bike commercial episode shows Peter once again being used to coax Fudge into cooperation, reinforcing his sense that his brother always comes first. The crisis peaks when Fudge swallows Dribble and lands in the hospital while Peter grieves alone, feeling invisible to everyone around him. The story ends on a hopeful note when Peter's parents acknowledge his patience with a puppy of his very own.

The headline events of Peter and Fudge's turbulent year

Peter brings Dribble home from the party and Mrs. Hatcher immediately complains about the turtle's smell.

Mrs. Hatcher spends the day cooking and cleaning for the Yarbys' visit, and Fudge eats flowers from the dinner centerpiece.

Fudge puts on a gorilla Halloween mask and leaps out to frighten Mrs. Yarby during the family dinner.

The Yarbys move to a hotel, and Mr. Hatcher loses the Juicy-O advertising account the following week.

Peter flatly refuses to stand on his head a second morning and tells his mother Fudge will eat when hungry.

Fudge crawls under the dinner table barking like a dog, and his mother places his food plate on the floor.

Sheila convinces Mrs. Hatcher to let her watch Fudge in Central Park while Mrs. Hatcher runs a quick errand.

Peter confides his hurt feelings to Dribble and wonders if he was left on the Hatchers' doorstep as a baby.

Dr. Brown tells the Hatchers that Fudge won't grow new front teeth for several years, and Peter begins calling him Fang.

Fudge's third birthday party turns chaotic when a guest bites Peter's grandmother and another guest vomits.

Fudge refuses to open his mouth at the dentist until Peter sits in the chair and demonstrates.

Fudge misbehaves at a restaurant, smearing mashed potatoes on the wall and dumping peas on his own head.

Peter, Jimmy, and Sheila form a school committee to complete a project about city transportation.

Mrs. Hatcher returns from visiting her sister to find the Toddle-Bike commercial starring Fudge playing on television.

Peter sits alone in the hospital emergency room while his parents consult the pediatrician about Fudge.

From the moment Peter brings Dribble home to a mother who dislikes the turtle's smell, the challenges of life with Fudge accumulate steadily. The disastrous Yarby visit, a prolonged hunger strike, and Fudge's terrifying fall in Central Park each force Peter into the role of reluctant helper and convenient scapegoat. After losing his front teeth, Fudge turns three in a spectacularly chaotic birthday party, while Peter silently seethes and confides his frustrations to his turtle. School becomes one of the few spaces where Peter feels capable and independent, as he teams up with Jimmy and bossy classmate Sheila to tackle a city transportation project. Fudge's antics continue through uncooperative dentist visits and a disastrous lunch out before the crisis of Dribble's disappearance brings everything to a head. The aftermath unfolds quietly in hospital waiting rooms and lonely evenings at home as Peter comes to terms with what he has lost.

The supporting moments that shaped Peter's difficult year

Peter sternly warns Fudge not to touch Dribble, and Fudge smiles, says 'No touch,' and laughs mischievously.

The Yarbys give Peter a picture dictionary meant for a four-year-old, and he thanks them politely despite his disappointment.

Fudge wakes Peter by placing Dribble on his arm, and Peter loses his temper and smacks his brother.

Mr. Hatcher is assigned the Toddle-Bike TV commercial account after his agency loses the Juicy-O account.

Mrs. Hatcher angrily blames Peter for Fudge's playground accident even though Sheila had been left in charge.

Mrs. Hatcher asks Peter to show Dribble to Fudge's birthday party guests despite Peter's obvious reluctance.

Mrs. Hatcher asks Peter to pretend to buy saddle shoes to trick Fudge into wearing them, and Peter objects.

Peter and Jimmy rebuild their destroyed project poster, and their teacher praises the completed transportation report.

Fudge sneaks into Peter's room a second time and cuts his own hair, letting clippings fall into Dribble's bowl.

Mrs. Hatcher leaves to visit her sister in Boston, leaving Mr. Hatcher in sole charge of both boys.

Peter briefly imagines starring in the Toddle-Bike commercial himself before the company owner spots Fudge instead.

Mr. Hatcher asks Peter to keep the weekend's string of mishaps a secret from Mrs. Hatcher.

Peter breaks down crying in the hospital when the doctor suggests Dribble the turtle cannot be saved.

Mrs. Hatcher cooks Peter's favorite lamb chops after the emergency, but Peter is too heartbroken to eat.

Peter's grandmother celebrates when Dribble passes through Fudge, then snaps at Peter for asking whether the turtle survived.

From the very beginning, small warning signs foreshadow the disasters ahead—Fudge's knowing laugh when warned to leave Dribble alone, and Peter's first real loss of temper when the toddler uses the turtle to wake him up. Peter spends the year absorbing unfair blame, being asked to trick his brother, and watching Fudge receive opportunities meant for him, including a starring role in a TV commercial. Key emotional pivots include Mrs. Hatcher's rare admission that she wrongly blamed Peter for Fudge's accident, and Peter's quiet recognition that his parents manipulate him just as much as they do Fudge. Moments at school and at home reveal Peter's deep resilience: he rebuilds a ruined poster without lasting complaint and tolerates his brother's second break-in even as the threat to Dribble grows more obvious. The emotional climax arrives not just in the hospital but in heartbreaking details—Peter crying in front of the doctor, unable to eat his favorite meal. Recognition finally comes when his parents name him a good sport, and the puppy he names Turtle proves they were paying attention all along.