Shell Game: When the Kirby family from Louisiana moves into the neighborhood, Stanley and Mrs. Griff visit their house as a welcome wagon to invite them to a picnic. Stanley is eager to meet Mrs. Kirby's daughter, Cathy, who is his age, and delighted to learn that she has a pet turtle named Taffy. Cathy, however, ignores all of Stanley's questions and won't talk to him at all. When Stanley asks his mom about it, she says that some people take longer to come out of their shell than others. Stanley doesn't get the reference and decides to look up turtles in The Great Big Book of Everything. Though the reference to "shells" wasn't literal, Stanley still finds information that helps him. Sheep and a Haircut: While Stanley and Mr. Griff enjoy fun shopping and pizza-eating at the mall, Mrs. Griff gets her hair done. When they go to pick her up, Stanley is stunned by his mom's radically different new hairdo. It's a nice haircut, but Stanley can't seem to get used to his mom looking different from the way she used to. Dennis recommends look up sheep in The Great Big Book, since they too undergo a radical change in their hair As Harry and Elsie crack jokes about "barbersheep quartets," Stanley learns that change can often be a good thing.