The book comprises a series of short stories for 5 to 11 year olds. Some stories are traditional, some are odd, some are about children, some are like fables. All have a value or message to pass on. In the eighteenth century fathers would frequently read to the whole family. Books of the time often facilitated this through the direct style in which they were written. That style is imitated in many of the stories in this book. The reader, the listener, is invited into the stories.