Ashforth creates a gentle nursery world with stuffed animals as characters. Teddy bear James is puzzled by the disappearance of items from his Useful Box. His musings are interrupted by Johnny Conqueror, a monkey who presents a show using objects that James comes to recognize as his missing treasures, and he grows increasingly upset.
A small rabbit, Horatio, is amused by the tricks, and although the monkey outwits James with a final disappearing trick, the bear accepts the departure and turns to Horatio for companionship. Watercolor paintings sustain a sweet, nostalgic feeling; the old-fashioned toys in the background belong to an earlier generation, but beloved cloth animals remain a constant of childhood.
