A delightful read, easy vocabulary for a beginning French speaker, and the humor keeps you interested. The book is in the form of a series of self-contained stories told by Nicolas about the group of friends (les copains), each of whom has his own characteristic foibles. "His" because being boys of that age they don't like girls, and in one story the rest of the friends are horrified that Nicolas invites his female neighbor for a snack. The humor is also subtle enough in many places that adults will see things that children miss, but the observations of life are very accurate indeed.