"Renard mingles wonder and humor in a series of miniature portraits of subjects drawn from the natural world: dogs, cats, pigs, roses, snails, trees and birds of all sorts, humans of course, and even a humble potato. Ranging from a sentence to several pages, Renard's sketches are ... compress[ed] and descripti[ve], capturing both appearance and behavior through a choice of details that makes the familiar unfamiliar and yet surprisingly true to life."--Publisher description.

Lying in wait --Hunting for pictures -- The hen -- Cocks -- Ducks -- Turkeys -- Pigeons -- The peacock -- The swan -- One dog -- Two dogs -- Dedeche has died -- The cat -- Flies -- The cow -- The death of brunette -- The ox -- The bull -- The mare -- The horse -- The donkey -- The pig -- The pig and his pearls -- The nanny goat -- The billy goat -- Two rabbits -- The hare -- The lizard -- The green lizard -- The grass snake -- The weasel -- The hedgehog -- The snake -- The worm -- Frogs -- The toad -- The grasshopper -- The cricket -- The cockroach -- The glowworm -- The spider -- The may bug -- Ants -- The snail -- A sunrise -- The caterpillar -- The butterfly -- The wasp -- The flea -- The dragonfly -- The squirrel -- The mouse -- Monkeys -- The stag -- The gudgeon -- The pike -- The whale -- Fish -- The garden -- Poppies -- The vine -- Bats -- The birdless cage -- A canary -- The finch -- The bullfinches' nest -- The sparrow -- The swallows -- The magpie -- The blackbird -- The goldern oriole -- The parrot -- The lark -- The kingfisher -- The hawk -- The wagtail -- Partridges -- The woodcock -- A family of trees -- The end of the shooting season -- The new moon -- The wood -- Rain -- The furious dog -- Autumn leaves.