Through drawings, an illustrator tells his dog the story of a boy named Christopher Crumpet. Christopher can at will change himself from a little boy into a chicken. He threatens to do so if his father, Marvin, won’t buy him a rocket ship. Marvin doesn’t want a chicken for a son, so he does whatever he can to appease Christopher. But time after time as Marvin fails to come through with the real new rocket ship that Christopher wants, Christopher turns himself into a chicken. Bilgewater, Marvin’s co-worker, upon seeing Christopher change himself from a boy to a chicken, thinks he can take advantage of the situation. But Marvin does whatever he possibly can to thwart Bilgewater’s plans if only because he wants a human boy as a son instead of a chicken. The illustrator has a specific reason for telling his dog Christopher’s story.