When two children receive brightly coloured socks their grandma has knit for them, they can't decide whether to wear them or save them. They visit the wise old shepherd whose music inspires them to dance and sing in their new socks. Set in a fishing village on the East Coast, this story centres around a strike in 1971. The strike causes tensions and divisions within the village and eventually leads to two boys being set adrift in a boat on a stormy night.
Students bring jewellery and badges to class where they discuss their use and purpose.
The class then visits a place where jewellery is made. A section of the book shows the children making interesting jewellery out of everyday materials. This is one of a series that features children from several cultures. The bead pot has bridged lifestyles as it travelled with Toniya from a childhood tipi to an adobe house, to a trailer home, and finally to a lodge. The story and colour illustrations by Nona Foster combine realism and the supernatural.