Taken all together, the stories in this book are what is called a Bildungsroman—a story about growing up. Each story is a little self-contained adventure, and though the book doesn’t build up to an exciting climax with a solid resolution, neither does growing up. A person progresses naturally from childhood to adulthood, and the story does not end there; it merely shifts into a different kind of narrative.

Stuart starts out as a child having adventures in which he learns what his limits are and how to overcome them. In each of his adventures, he learns something that brings him a step closer to growing up. In the incident with Snowbell and the window blind, Stuart learns not to let other people push him into doing foolish or careless things. In the episode where he is accidentally locked in the refrigerator, he learns that he must make an effort to make sure he is seen by other people.

Like other children, Stuart plays games of make-believe. Often, he acts more mature than he truly is, such as when he pretends to be an expert sailor during the sailing race on the pond. However, when he finds himself on the garbage barge headed out to sea, he learns that he is not yet ready to manage the full-sized world.