John Joseph Sparrow is a sweet-natured child. He smiles often and his disposition is always sunny. Animals, even shy, wild animals are drawn to this gentle boy. But John Joseph, known as Spider, because of the strange way he walks, is different in many ways. He speaks poorly, walks with a peculiar gait and it is obvious, even to his loving parents, Kathie and Tom, that he is not "normal". It's a relief really, when the local school refuses to take him. In the farming community in which Spider lives, his difference provokes some unkind reactions: