Book one is the introduction to the Ormsby Otter family. It starts with an early spring birthday in Inga and Otto Otter's little Nursery den under the Willow, next to the rivers edge. The three comical little otter pups; Liam, Anna and Noah grow quickly. In a couple of months they learn how to swim, slide, hunt for food. They meet the amusing Wood Duck family. Shy Anna finds a gem in the clam she caught, her and Mama Inga take it to Milly the Pileated Wood Pecker to bore a hole into it, then Milly makes Anna a pretty pearl necklace. While her brothers are with Pa Otto learning to hunt the pinchy crayfish and making their own necklace, The Otter family ends their most fascinating day in the big world outside their little Nursery den by Pa Otto's announcement of soon moving to their newly completed home under the roots of the grand Hemlock on Bavarian Bluffs high bank.