Follows Nicholas as he runs away, buys his mother a birthday gift, and worries about showing his parents his report card.

Nicholas and the Gang contains 16 stories about Nicholas, the French schoolboy, and his friends, many of whom are familiar from the other books in the series: there's Alec, who's always eating; Cuthbert, who's always top of the class; Matthew, who's always bottom of the class; and Mary Jane, the little girl with blonde pigtails who lives next door. As usual, the children get into all kinds of trouble, even though they have the very best intentions....

Nicholas, a young French schoolboy, heads for the beach with his parents and then to overnight camp with a new set of friends. Whether he's playing miniature golf, going on a fishing trip, or heading out to a treasure hunt in the middle of the night, he always seems to get into mischief.

"Mon premier a un papa qui lui achète tout ce qu'il veut. Mon deuxième est le chouchou de la maîtresse. Mon troisième est le plus costaud. Le papa de mon quatrième est le dernier de la classe. Mon sixième, qui est très gros, aime manger. Mon tout est la plus chouette bande de copains qui ait jamais existé : Geoffroy, Agnan, Eudes, Rufus, Clotaire, Alceste... et le Petit Nicolas !"--Page 4 of cover. A little French boy recounts the many escapades...