Four friends: a tiger with faded stripes; a bald hedgehog; a squirrel with no tail and an elephant with a broken trunk that once played tunes, set off with a crow to find a doll's hospital. They hope the hospital will make them better. Their journey starts on the night before Christmas Eve, in an old cardboard box in the attic of an abandoned house. Will they reach the doll's hospital or will they become a meal for a hungry eagle owl or fall foul of the cat who lives under the footbridge? And what of the fox and the local coffee shop? And just why does a crow need to wear socks?