Flat-Faced Finnegan (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781412098809)

The character named Finnegan moves to a small town named Easy. Because he is a stranger and somewhat of a recluse, the towns people call him "Flat-Faced Finnegan" Finnegan has an extremely long beard that trails behind him when he walks through the town, and he always wears a hat to cover his bald head. The children of the town make fun of him and jump on his beard to ride along behind him. In reality Finnegan is a scientist who has been experimenting with chemicals to replace the hair he has lost, but no matter what he does, his head remains bald and his beard keeps growing even when he cuts it. Even though the children ridicule him and step on his beard, he still has a genuine fondness for them. One day as he is taking his daily walk, he notices that the schoolhouse has caught fire and all the children and teachers are trapped on the top floor. Thinking fast he runs into the burning building and into the room with those trapped. He then throws his beard out the window so the children and teachers can climb down to safety. He then ties his beard to a heavy desk and climbs down until he is near the ground. A bystander form the crowd that had gathered cuts Finnegan's beard with a pair of scissors so he can drop to safely to the ground. From then on the whole town considers Finnegan a hero and erects a statue.