diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f570801..24b699f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,43 +6,67 @@
 [![CI](https://github.com/jmarshrossney/dirconf/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/jmarshrossney/dirconf/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
 [![Docs](https://github.com/jmarshrossney/dirconf/actions/workflows/docs.yml/badge.svg)](https://jmarshrossney.github.io/dirconf)
 
-`dirconf` is a Python tool for declaratively specifying what a valid configuration directory looks like.
+`dirconf` is a Python tool for declaratively specifying configuration directory structures, and constructing Python `dict` representations of their contents.
+
+For full user documentation and examples please visit **[https://jmarshrossney.github.io/dirconf/](https://jmarshrossney.github.io/dirconf/)**.
+
+## Motivations
 
 I wrote this because I sometimes have to work with quite old scientific models that require various configuration files and data inputs in various formats to be present in various locations.
 I was (and remain) concerned about how easy it can be to misconfigure certain models without realising, and how common workflows compromise reproducibility.
 
 `dirconf` helps by
 
-1. Allowing the user to describe the structure of a directory representing a valid configuration, and validate real directories against this description.
-
-2. Facilitating the generation of new configurations and metadata programmatically, in Python, as opposed to copying and editing files by hand or writing shell scripts.
+1. Allowing the user to describe the structure of a directory representing a valid configuration using Python [dataclasses](https://docs.python.org/3/library/dataclasses.html), and validate real directories against this description.
 
-3. Providing a consistent mechanism through which complex, distributed configurations in legacy formats can be validated using excellent tools such as [JSON Schema](https://json-schema.org/) and [Pydantic](https://docs.pydantic.dev/).
+2. Providing a scaffold for defining consistent read/write mechanisms through which complex, distributed configurations in legacy formats can be mapped to Python `dict`s.
 
-Configurations are specified using Python [dataclasses](https://docs.python.org/3/library/dataclasses.html); `dirconf` has no dependencies beyond the standard library.
+The ability to represent configurations as `dict`s is very useful indeed.
+With no extra effort, we can:
 
-For full user documentation and examples please visit **[https://jmarshrossney.github.io/dirconf/](https://jmarshrossney.github.io/dirconf/)**.
+- Validate configurations using excellent tools such as [JSON Schema](https://json-schema.org/) and [Pydantic](https://docs.pydantic.dev/).
+- Generate new configurations and metadata programmatically, as opposed to copying and editing files by hand or writing shell scripts.
 
 ## Installation
 
+`dirconf` is a Python package and thus can be installed using `pip`, or tools such as `uv` and `poetry` that wrap around `pip`.
+
 ```sh
-pip install dirconf
+uv add dirconf
 ```
 
-or with `uv`:
+or
 
 ```sh
-uv add dirconf
+pip install dirconf
 ```
 
-or the equivalent command for other package managers (poetry etc).
+Currently Python versions equal to or above 3.12 are supported.
+
+## Overview of usage
+
+There are two essential steps for adapting `dirconf` to a specific use-case.
+
+1. **Define handlers** satisfying the `Handler` protocol for each of the paths (files and directories) present in your configuration.
+2. **Define the structure of a valid configuration** in terms of its paths and their respective handlers, by subclassing the `DirConfig` class. This is most easily done using the `make_dirconfig` function.
+
+The custom `DirConfig` subclass can then be used to
+
+1. **Read** a configuration from the filesystem into a Python `dict`. 
+2. **Write** a configuration `dict` to the filesystem.
+
+These steps are most easily understood through examples: see [the docs](https://jmarshrossney.github.io/dirconf/101.html).
+All examples are based on self-contained [marimo](https://marimo.io/) notebooks, which can be found in the [examples](examples/) directory.
 
+## Philosophy
 
-## Development
+`dirconf` contains ~700 lines of code (including docstrings) and has no dependencies beyond the Standard Library.
 
-Contributions are welcome!
+This is by design.
+I have no intention of developing `dirconf` into a more sophisticated tool than it already is.
+The aim is that is works seamlessly alongside other tools and packages for parsing and validation, without ever getting in the way or creating conflicts.
 
-Please open a Pull Request against the `main` branch.
+With that out of the way, please feel free to raise an [issue](https://github.com/jmarshrossney/dirconf/issues) or make a [pull request](https://github.com/jmarshrossney/dirconf/pulls) to suggest a change or feature.
 
 See [`CONTRIBUTING.md`](CONTRIBUTING.md) for full details.
 
diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md
index 6666241..0fb33df 100644
--- a/docs/index.md
+++ b/docs/index.md
@@ -1,17 +1,21 @@
 # Home
 
-`dirconf` is a simple tool for the meta-configuration of collections of configuration files, leaning heavily on Python [dataclasses](https://docs.python.org/3/library/dataclasses.html).
+`dirconf` is a Python tool for declaratively specifying configuration directory structures, and constructing Python `dict` representations of their contents.
 
-I wrote this because I sometimes work with quite old scientific models requiring various configuration files and data inputs in various formats to be present in various locations. I was (and remain) concerned about how easy it can be to misconfigure certain models without realising, and how common workflows compromise reproducibility.
+I wrote this because I sometimes have to work with quite old scientific models that require various configuration files and data inputs in various formats to be present in various locations.
+I was (and remain) concerned about how easy it can be to misconfigure certain models without realising, and how common workflows compromise reproducibility.
 
 `dirconf` helps by
 
-1. Allowing the user to describe the structure of a directory representing a valid configuration, and validate real directories against this description.
+1. Allowing the user to describe the structure of a directory representing a valid configuration using Python [dataclasses](https://docs.python.org/3/library/dataclasses.html), and validate real directories against this description.
 
-2. Facilitating the generation of new configurations and metadata programmatically, in Python, as opposed to copying and editing files by hand or writing shell scripts.
+2. Providing a scaffold for defining consistent read/write mechanisms through which complex, distributed configurations in legacy formats can be mapped to Python `dict`s.
 
-3. Providing a consistent mechanism through which complex, distributed configurations in legacy formats can be validated using excellent tools such as [JSON Schema](https://json-schema.org/) and [Pydantic](https://docs.pydantic.dev/).
+The ability to represent configurations as `dict`s is very useful indeed.
+With no extra effort, we can:
 
+- Validate configurations using excellent tools such as [JSON Schema](https://json-schema.org/) and [Pydantic](https://docs.pydantic.dev/).
+- Generate new configurations and metadata programmatically, as opposed to copying and editing files by hand or writing shell scripts.
 
 ## Installation
 
@@ -31,7 +35,6 @@ I wrote this because I sometimes work with quite old scientific models requiring
     ```
 
 Currently Python versions equal to or above 3.12 are supported.
-It has no dependencies other than the Standard Library.
 
 
 ## Overview of usage
@@ -50,7 +53,7 @@ These steps are most easily understood through examples.
 To start with, take a look at the [Usage](101.md) section. 
 More realistic examples can be found under the 'examples' heading.
 
-All of the examples (including 'Usage') are based on self-contained [marimo](https://marimo.io/) notebooks, which can be browsed and downloaded [here](https://github.com/jmarshrossney/dirconf/tree/main/examples/)
+All examples are based on self-contained [marimo](https://marimo.io/) notebooks, which can be found [here](https://github.com/jmarshrossney/dirconf/tree/main/examples/).
 
 
 ## Philosophy
diff --git a/examples/101/notebook.py b/examples/101/notebook.py
index 52fb043..636808d 100644
--- a/examples/101/notebook.py
+++ b/examples/101/notebook.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 # requires-python = ">=3.12"
 # dependencies = [
 #     "marimo",
+#     "pydantic",
 #     "pyyaml",
 # ]
 # ///
@@ -779,9 +780,91 @@ def _(mo):
 @app.cell(hide_code=True)
 def _(mo):
     mo.md(r"""
-    ### Strategies for validation
+    ## Config Validation
 
-    *To do.*
+    A primary motivation for reading file-based configurations into Python dicts is to enable validation using Python tooling.
+
+    Here we demonstrate how to validate the configuration dict returned by `read` using [Pydantic](https://docs.pydantic.dev/).
+    """)
+    return
+
+
+@app.cell
+def _():
+    from pydantic import BaseModel
+
+    class ParamsModel(BaseModel):
+        a: float
+        b: float
+        c: float
+
+    class ConfigModel(BaseModel):
+        id: str
+        params: ParamsModel
+        init_state: list[float]
+        switch: bool
+
+    return (ConfigModel,)
+
+
+@app.cell(hide_code=True)
+def _(mo):
+    mo.md(r"""
+    We can now validate the 'basic' configuration from earlier:
+    """)
+    return
+
+
+@app.cell
+def _(config_dict):
+    config_dict
+    return
+
+
+@app.cell
+def _(ConfigModel, config_dict):
+    validated_config = ConfigModel(**config_dict["config"])
+    validated_config
+    return
+
+
+@app.cell(hide_code=True)
+def _(mo):
+    mo.md(r"""
+    If the configuration contains invalid data, Pydantic will raise a clear validation error:
+    """)
+    return
+
+
+@app.cell
+def _(ConfigModel):
+    try:
+        ConfigModel(
+            id=123,
+            params={"a": "not a float", "b": 2.0, "c": 3.0},
+            init_state=[0, 0, 0],
+            switch=True,
+        )
+    except Exception as e:
+        print(type(e).__name__)
+        print(e)
+    return
+
+
+@app.cell(hide_code=True)
+def _(mo):
+    mo.md(r"""
+    !!! tip
+        You can integrate validation directly into your workflow by wrapping the `read` method:
+
+        ```python
+        def read_validated(config_instance, path):
+            config_dict = config_instance.read(path)
+            config_dict["config"] = ConfigModel(**config_dict["config"]).model_dump()
+            return config_dict
+        ```
+
+        This ensures that every time you load a configuration, it is automatically validated against your Pydantic model.
     """)
     return
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index a0160cc..f9ba4a4 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "uv_build"
 
 [project]
 name = "dirconf"
-version = "0.5.0"
+version = "0.5.1"
 description = "Build declarative schemas for multi-file configuration directories using Python dataclasses, with dict-based read and write."
 authors = [
     { name = "Joe Marsh Rossney", email = "17361029+jmarshrossney@users.noreply.github.com" }
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 5c6e63e..ab11c29 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "dirconf"
-version = "0.5.0"
+version = "0.5.1"
 source = { editable = "." }
 
 [package.dev-dependencies]