All the animals, including his own pack, think Wild Dog is too wild. In fact, he’s the wildest dog they’ve ever met. His constant activity leads him into a variety of adventures and, ultimately, into danger.

But the wild dog pack saves the day and his own mother defends his wild ways, pointing out that curiosity and boldness are essential traits for an alpha dog, such as his father and herself. Rather than squelching Wild Dog’s high spirits, she affirms them.

In six heartwarming tales, Avril van der Merwe highlights character traits or habits that may trouble young children. Wild Dog’s hyperactive nature gets him into trouble, Pangolin uses her intelligence to outsmart Lion and discovers new friends in the process, Bushbaby’s nocturnal habits lead the animals to assume he is shy, Hyena mistakenly thinks that if she changes her identity she’ll be accepted, Hippo’s envy of Rhinoceros’ horn ends up creating more trouble than she anticipated, while Cheetah learns that his bragging doesn’t impress his friends.

Each animal character faces a challenge, but with plenty of encouragement and support from their friends, a lesson is learned and the outcome is always positive.

Cheetah boasts that, because he can run faster than any other animal, he is the real king of the beasts. Winning a race against the other animals only reinforces his posturing and he boasts that he can run even faster than the wind. The wind takes up the challenge, leading to an outcome that keeps Cheetah’s tears running down his cheeks as a permanent reminder of his place in the natural world.

How Cheetah Got His Tears is a story that warns of the perils of boasting, yet shows that the capacity to accept defeat with grace and humility can lead to reconciliation and acceptance.

After a night of feasting on termites and ants, Pangolin bumps into Lion as she is returning to her burrow to sleep. Since she is not a fast runner, she has to think quickly to avoid being eaten. Being polite and gentle, she doesn’t want to harm Lion, so she decides to trick him instead. Aided unexpectedly by Dung Beetle, her deception proves successful and Lion soon rushes off to find Pangolin, who has been right under his nose all along. Once he is gone, the other animals come out of hiding and Pangolin learns that, despite being shy and solitary, she has more friends than she ever realized.