The Twits, the Minpins & the Magic Finger recap

Three stories reverse the power held by bullies, monsters, and hunters. In The Twits, the captive Muggle-Wump family and their bird allies escape, glue the Twits' furniture to the ceiling, and convince the returning couple that they are upside down; the Twits stand on their heads until they shrink away. In The Minpins, Little Billy disobeys his mother and enters a forbidden forest, where tiny tree-dwellers shelter him from the fire-breathing Gruncher. Riding a Swan, Billy lures the beast into a lake and frees the Minpins from its rule. In The Magic Finger, a girl's anger transforms the duck-hunting Gregg family into winged, tiny people while ducks occupy their house and wield their guns. After experiencing life as prey, the Greggs swear off hunting, return to normal, and destroy their weapons, while the Girl's unexplained magic moves on to another offending household.

Mr and Mrs Twit are a cruel couple who spend much of their time playing escalating tricks on each other. Their private warfare includes disgusting food, concealed creatures, and a scheme that makes Mrs Twit believe she is steadily shrinking. Their cruelty extends beyond the marriage: they imprison Muggle-Wump and his family of monkeys, forcing them to practice standing upside down, and spread strong glue on a tree so that visiting birds can be baked in a pie. The Roly-Poly Bird helps the monkeys warn the birds away. While the Twits are absent, the animals escape and attach the household furniture to the ceiling. On returning, the couple believe the whole room has turned upside down and stand on their heads to correct themselves. Glue fixes them there, and they shrink until nothing remains. The animals are free to return home.

After the Twits are defeated by their captives, Little Billy enters the Forest of Sin despite his mother's warnings. The fire-breathing Gruncher chases him up a tree, where he discovers the Minpins, tiny people whose connected homes occupy the hollow trunks. Their leader, Don Mini, explains that birds provide transportation but that the monster makes the forest floor deadly. Billy learns to ride a Swan and devises a way to help. He draws the Gruncher into a pursuit, stays just ahead of it, and flies out over a lake. When the Swan rises beyond reach, the charging beast plunges into the water and is destroyed. The Minpins can safely use the ground again. Billy returns home and keeps their community secret, but the Swan continues to collect him for nighttime flights and visits with his new friends.

The final narrator is a girl whose finger produces transformative magic whenever her anger becomes intense. She objects to the Gregg family's enthusiasm for shooting animals, especially after Mr Gregg and his sons kill ducks. Her anger triggers the power. The next morning, Mr and Mrs Gregg and their sons are tiny and winged, while four human-sized ducks occupy their house with human arms and the family's guns. The Greggs build a nest in a tree and confront hunger, cold, and the fear of being shot. When the ducks threaten them, the family promise to abandon hunting. They regain their normal forms, destroy the guns, and begin treating birds differently. The Girl then discovers signs that the power has affected another hunting family, showing that the Magic Finger remains beyond her control and that the Greggs' lesson is not its final intervention.

In the final story, the Gregg family awaken with wings and are displaced by four large ducks with human arms. Forced to live in a nest and threatened with the guns they once used for sport, the Greggs promise never to hunt again. The ducks accept the promise, and the family eventually regain their ordinary bodies. Mr Gregg destroys the guns and changes the household's behavior toward birds. The Girl then learns that her magical finger has found a new target: another local family associated with hunting now appear to have taken on chicken-like traits. The collection therefore closes with the Greggs reformed but the mysterious power still active. Earlier, the Twits vanished after the escaped animals inverted their house, and Little Billy saved the Minpins from the Gruncher while preserving their existence as a secret.