Using some of the natural characteristics of North American animals and taking literary license to add other traits, Dennis has fashioned tales that show how the use or misuse of those features can bring about joy or sadness. The animals in the stories talk and do things that people do, whether good or bad, and are rewarded or punished accordingly. Young people are then reminded of what is proper or improper behavior by nature itself. The real animals they encounter reinforce the themes of the stories: when they see a deer, they will also see poise and grace; a dragonfly can turn their thoughts toward things spiritual; a pretty butterfly indicates that death only changes the form of life . . . and so on. The author wishes to thank all who have shaped his own moral codes, especially his parents who have passed into the next world as beautiful, eternal butterflies.