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Pipkin was a very small frog who lived in a very large pond. His greatest treasure was a glob of shimmering, purple goop called a Gloop-Glop. It wasn't just any goop; it could make music that sounded like bubbling water and whispering reeds. One morning, Pipkin woke up and his Gloop-Glop was gone! He searched everywhere, under lily pads, inside hollow reeds, and behind cattails, but it was nowhere to be found.

He decided to consult the wisest creature in the pond, Old Man Tadpole. Old Man Tadpole was so old he had forgotten more than most frogs ever learned. "Ah, the Gloop-Glop," said Old Man Tadpole in a croaky voice. "Legend says it was stolen by a Sneaky Snail who lives in the Murky Marsh."

Pipkin gulped. The Murky Marsh was full of grumpy mud-skippers and sticky mud that held onto you like a hug you didn't ask for. But he had to get his Gloop-Glop back. He hopped on a sturdy lily pad and paddled toward the marsh. The journey was long and full of squishy, slurpy sounds. When he finally arrived, he found the Sneaky Snail. He was a small snail with a very suspicious look on his face. He was not, however, a purple Gloop-Glop thief.

"I didn't steal your goop!" the snail huffed. "My slime is perfectly sufficient for my needs. The REAL thief is the Curious Crane who likes to collect shiny things."

So Pipkin found the Curious Crane. She was indeed very curious, but she was not a Gloop-Glop thief. "I don't steal things," she said, preening her feathers. "I just admire them from a distance. The only one I know who loves slimy things is the Big Boar who thinks everything is a potato."

Pipkin finally found the Big Boar. He was not eating his Gloop-Glop. He was, however, trying to plant it. "I thought it was a new kind of potato!" the boar grumbled. "It's not growing very well." Pipkin gently took his Gloop-Glop back, which was still happily making music. He explained that it was not, in fact, a potato. And so Pipkin returned home, his Gloop-Glop safe, and the mystery was solved. The "thief" was just a hungry, mistaken boar.