Summary
Peter thinks his father is glad to be rid of Mr. Yarby and Juicy-O because now he can spend more time on his other important clients. His next project is the new commercial for Toddle-Bike. Peter says he wanted his father to use him in the commercial, since he knows how to stand on his head. He then launches into a story about how he learned to stand on his head, and how right after he learned how, Fudge stopped eating. This worries his mother, who tries to find a way to make Fudge eat. She comes up with the idea to have Peter stand on his head while she feeds Fudge because it entertains him so much that he will clap and laugh and open his mouth for her to put food in it.
Unfortunately for Peter, this is the only thing that works and makes Fudge eat, so their mother keeps asking him to do it again. He keeps refusing to stand on his head, and is annoyed that they fuss so much over Fudge but don't care about him. That night at dinner, Fudge pretends to be a dog and goes under the table to bark and pull on everyone's legs. Their mother exclaims that because Fudge is a dog, he must want to eat on the floor, so she puts his plate under the table and pets him like he is a real dog. Their father thinks she is taking this whole thing too far.
For a week, Fudge continues to pretend to be the family dog and eats under the table. Peter wishes they could actually trade Fudge in for a real dog; that would solve all his problems. Their grandma comes over to try to figure out how to get Fudge to eat, and tries to make Fudge a milkshake with an egg in it and tells him if he drinks it to the bottom there will be a surprise waiting for him. But he finds no surprise, so he quickly learns this is a lie.
Their mother takes Fudge to multiple doctors, all of whom say there is nothing wrong with him and that he will eat when he is hungry. Peter has been telling her the same thing since the problem started. As per a doctor's suggestion, she tries to cook Fudge his favorite foods, but he still refuses to eat. Things start to escalate as Fudge refuses to eat his special lamb chops, and then refuses to eat cereal even though he asked for it. Finally, his father lifts Fudge up, takes him to the bathtub, and dumps the entire bowl of cereal on his head. As he does this, he says "Eat it or wear it!" This solves the problem, and from that day on Fudge stops pretending to be a dog and eats all his food at the table. His new favorite expression is, "Eat it or wear it!"
In the next chapter, Peter tells readers that their apartment is near Central Park, and he is allowed to walk over on his own as long as he is going to meet friends there. His friend Jimmy has been mugged three times, so his mother does not want him to be on his own. They warn him not to talk to any strangers when he is in the park.
One sunny afternoon, Peter calls for Jimmy and they go to the park. Jimmy is the only kid from his class who also lives on his block, except for Sheila, an annoying know-it-all girl who lives in Peter's same building. Peter's mother thinks Sheila is smart and beautiful, but Peter disagrees. When Peter and Jimmy get to their favorite rocks in the park that day though, they find Sheila sitting on their favorite rocks. As they are yelling at her to find another rock, Peter's mother passes by with Fudge. Sheila offers to keep an eye on Fudge for ten minutes while Mrs. Hatcher runs back to their apartment to turn on the oven. Peter's mom asks him and Jimmy to help too, and they get stuck with the job even though Peter protests. Sheila insists that she be the one in charge of Fudge.
They take Fudge to the playground, where Sheila starts chasing Peter and Jimmy around shouting that they have cooties. They are distracted by Sheila and do not notice Fudge climb to the very top of the jungle gym. He pretends to be a bird and jumps off, and Peter cannot stop him in time. He hits the ground hard and his face is covered in blood, as he knocks out his teeth and screams. Peter tells Sheila their mother is going to kill her, since she was the one in charge, and Sheila starts crying. A whole crowd of kids gather around them and start looking for Fudge's lost teeth.
Peter's mother returns and is astonished. They realize that Fudge must have swallowed his teeth. Sheila apologizes over and over, but Peter's mother says she does not blame her. Peter thinks she is going too easy on Sheila. When they get back home though, Peter's mother starts yelling at him, saying she cannot trust him for even ten minutes. Peter angrily says that she left Sheila in charge, not him, and he stalks into his room to slam the door and play with Dribble. He feels like his mother does not even love him, and that no one needs him around there. He does not eat dinner that night.
The next morning Peter's mother comes into his room to apologize, saying that she was upset over Fudge's accident and had to blame somebody. She says she didn't really mean what she said. They both agree that Fudge will probably never try to fly again, and laugh.
Analysis
Just like many other children his age, Fudge often gets into trouble because of his overactive imagination. In Chapter 3, he imagines he is a dog and will only eat food from the floor. In Chapter 4, he imagines he is a bird and jumps off the jungle gym, only to fall and knock out his front teeth. Much of Peter's frustration with Fudge comes from the fact that his younger brother cannot separate imagination from reality, while he, as the older sibling, is expected to behave realistically and practically all the time. While imagination is one of the most precious things about childhood, children must learn this important distinction as they grow—Fudge, however, has not reached that stage yet.
This book is primarily a story about the Hatcher siblings, but readers also learn a lot about the way the Hatcher parents interact with their children too. Mrs. Hatcher is a worrier, and is heavily involved in every moment of her children's lives; this is clear in the way she worries about Fudge not eating, and worries about leaving him with Peter and his friends in the park for a few minutes. Mr. Hatcher, in contrast, is more hands-off as a parent, but gets involved with serious discipline when necessary, like the cereal incident. The Hatcher parents are examples of how there is no one way to be a parent; there are different parenting styles, and some of them work better in different situations.
Peter feels that he receives unfair treatment from his parents. They are preoccupied with keeping Fudge happy and managing his behavior, so much so that they often have unrealistic expectations for Peter. One particular incident that shows this is when Peter's mother gets angry at him over Fudge's accident, despite having shrugged it off when talking to Sheila a few minutes earlier. Peter's main wish is to be treated fairly, so this makes him feel betrayed, angry, and uncertain about his place in his family. In spite of all this, though, Peter does still have a close relationship with his parents, and this relationship comes out on top at the end of Chapter 4 when his mother apologizes and they make up.
Central Park is an important setting in this book for Peter because it is one place where he has some independence from Fudge and the rest of his family. He is allowed to walk there on his own, and when he is there, he can have fun with his friends without worrying about the things that trouble him at home. It also is a place where some significant responsibility is entrusted to him, since he must always be on alert and make sure he and his friends stay safe when they are there alone. Fudge's arrival at the park disrupts the peace Peter feels when he is here. This is a common theme throughout the book: Fudge comes in and messes up something that is important to Peter in some way.
In Chapter 4 readers meet Sheila, the first female character who is Peter's age. Peter is at that in-between stage of childhood and adulthood where some children are not sure how to feel about the opposite sex, but the way Peter and Sheila treat each other makes it clear that they do not want anything to do with each other. However, Sheila and Peter are alike in some ways; just like Peter, Sheila is determined to show she is mature and be given responsibility, so she offers to babysit Fudge. However, she is still a child herself, and has some more growing up to do. The responsibility she wants can only come little by little.
