In this book of illustrated humorous verse, we take up the challenge of throwing some light on a few possibly puzzling phenomena encountered in real life, though how much light is hard to say. We must hope that others will in the future improve upon our efforts.For example, why do dogs so often delight in snapping wasps out of the air? How hungry can they be? The reason we have arrived at will astound you. There again, what is a completely novel way to win a cooking competition – even if you can''t cook? It''s all here.Have you thought about handbags recently? Why are they so often made from crocodile hide? We wonder about this.Apart from all this, would you like to find a way to make the summer longer and the winter shorter? Thought so! We show how to do it.There are so many other subjects, including advice on how best to cheer up an octopus that has been insulted, and an investigation on alternative meanings of various sayings, such as: ''An apple a day keeps the doctor away''. This one could be a real lifesaver!A question uppermost in many people''s minds is whether reincarnation is a real possibility. We have made some small progress here perhaps.All these things and many more are considered, but the book is not intended primarily for children. All humans would benefit in some way from the homespun wisdom that is on offer here, and if their English is not as good as their French, there are explanations of the poems in French as well, though the poems are in English of course.In all, there are 33 poems in rhyming verse, each with an excellent illustration in full colour by Reine Mazoyer. What''s not to like – as they say nowadays?