Mr Hoppy, a retired bachelor, harbours a secret passion for his neighbour, the lovely Mrs Silver. Unfortunately, she lavishes all her affection on another, Alfie, her pet tortoise. Mr Hoppy’s wildly ingenious plot to defeat his rival and win the love of his lady will delight and amaze, involving as it does a cryptic riddle and no fewer than a hundred and forty tortoises, large and small. Annotation Shy Mr. Hoppy devises a plan to win the heart of his true love by teaching her a spell to make her tortoise grow bigger.

荷畢先生很仰慕鄰居喜爾福太太，但一直羞于表達。有一天，他發現喜爾福太太很煩惱自己養的烏龜長不大，便想到一個妙計。荷畢先生寫了一個咒語，要喜爾福太太一天念三次給烏龜聽，內容為『喂咕嗚，喂咕嗚，點大點大變……』（也就是將『烏龜，烏龜，變大點大點！』倒過來念，即書名來因）。之后，荷畢先生蒐購大量和喜爾福太太的烏龜長得很像、但尺寸不同的烏龜回來，并制作一個可以抓烏龜的工具，每星期都偷偷用抓龜器調換一個比之前大兩盎司的烏龜，讓喜爾福太太很開心自己養的烏龜真的長大了！但是，后來喜爾福太太卻又煩惱烏龜長得太大了……到底結局如何？實在讓人意想不到哦！