A boy learns a lesson about the destructive power of gossip.

Armadillo's habit of eavesdropping and then misreporting what he hears makes the other animals so angry that they find a way to keep him from overhearing their private conversations.

"Pandurang, the fruit-seller, is so dour that he can make milk turn sour. One day he coughs up a feather. As the story of Pandurang's feather is passed from one person to another, it grows and grows until it can hardly be recognized. And that's when the story weaves its magic on the ill-tempered Pandurang. An international verson of 'broken telephone, ' The Rumor is a funny cautionary tale about the nature of rumors."--From publisher description.

Maya gets help from a school counselor when the new student she has tried to befriend upsets her, as she has other students, by spreading rumors, saying hurtful things, and sharing information that is not hers to share.

As the goggle-eyed goose's news about a wolf spreads from animal to animal, the facts become monstrously distorted.