Quote from the preface:

"This book presents fifteen highly readable stories and a handful of poems for those who would like to pursue their study of Dutch by reading some contemporary literature. The reading selections are unabridged and unsimplified, but the copious annotations and the complete vocabulary list will enable even beginners to build vocabulary and develop a sensitivity to modern idiomatic usage...

Each story is introduced by a few paragraphs in English which first place it in the contect of the author's work and then point out the direction the plot takes and suggest one or two questions the story raises. In roughly increasing ordee of difficulty...

A few short poems are also scattered about among the stories, making for a change of pace."

By authors from the Netherlands and northern Belgium, where most stories are set, except for two, set in "the East and West Indies."