"Bad Day in Gladland" is a funny and whimsical story of "magic realism" for both children and adults. It is a time of strange “plagues”. The city where the Bugg family resides completely disappears, consumed in a Plague of Daytime Darkness. The family’s old butler, Bentley, and the 2 children, acrobatic Athena and brainy Odysseus, along with Odysseus’ pet rat, Defoe, narrowly escape. They travel from town to town, hoping to find the children’s parents. To earn money they put on shows featuring the acrobatic skills of Athena. Bentley keeps a journal as they travel, relating one particular adventure: the making of the film "Bad Day in Gladland" by Prodigious Productions. At Prodigious Productions they learn of other plagues, such as the Plague of Getting Lost, the Plague of Anti-Gravity and the Plague of Flying Fish. Events turn dangerous when the greedy director of the film company and his scheming assistant become convinced that one of the actors knows a recipe for creating gold. It is up to Bentley, Odysseus, Athena and Defoe to save the day!