When eleven-year-old Eddie Dickens's sickly parents become "a bit crinkly round the edges," he is taken in by his great-uncle and great-aunt, Mad Uncle Jack and Mad Aunt Maude, and embarks on adventures that involve strolling actors, St. Horrid's Home for Grateful Orphans, and a carnival float shaped like a giant cow.

When eleven-year-old Eddie Dickens's sickly parents become "a bit crinkly round the edges," he is taken in by his great-uncle and great-aunt, Mad Uncle Jack and Mad Aunt Maude, and embarks on adventures that involve strolling actors, St. Horrid's Home for Grateful Orphans, and a carnival float shaped like a giant cow.