The stories take place in an enchanted forest in which a gigantic magical tree grows – the eponymous "Faraway Tree". The tree is so tall that its topmost branches reach into the clouds and it is wide enough to contain small houses carved into its trunk. The forest and the tree are discovered by three children named Jo, Bessie, and Fanny, who move into a house nearby. It is then that they embark on adventures to the top of the tree.