diff --git a/src/instructlab/schema/taxonomy.py b/src/instructlab/schema/taxonomy.py
index 9e2f9c7..fe927ac 100644
--- a/src/instructlab/schema/taxonomy.py
+++ b/src/instructlab/schema/taxonomy.py
@@ -429,6 +429,6 @@ def parse(self, path: str | pathlib.Path) -> Taxonomy:
 
             self._schema_validate(text=text, taxonomy=taxonomy)
         except Exception as e:
-            raise TaxonomyReadingException from e
+            raise TaxonomyReadingException(str(e)) from e
 
         return taxonomy
diff --git a/tests/test_parse.py b/tests/test_parse.py
index b1b39a3..1d64946 100644
--- a/tests/test_parse.py
+++ b/tests/test_parse.py
@@ -34,6 +34,22 @@ def test_parser_init_fails_when_schema_version_not_found(self, mock_schema_versi
         assert_that(str(exc_info.value)).matches(r'Schema base ".*" does not contain any schema versions')
 
 
+class TestTaxonomyReadingExceptionDisplay:
+    def test_invalid_yaml_with_taxonomy_reading_exception(self, testdata: pathlib.Path) -> None:
+        test_yaml = "compositional_skills/invalid_yaml_1/qna.yaml"
+        rel_path = testdata.joinpath(test_yaml)
+        parser = TaxonomyParser(schema_version=2)
+
+        with pytest.raises(TaxonomyReadingException) as exc_info:
+            parser.parse(rel_path)
+
+        exception = exc_info.value
+        assert_that(exception).is_instance_of(TaxonomyReadingException)
+        assert_that(str(exception)).contains("while scanning a simple key")
+        assert_that(str(exception)).contains("seed_examples:xx")
+        assert_that(str(exception.__cause__)).contains("could not find expected ':'")
+
+
 class TestParsingLogging:
     def message_filter(self, regex: str) -> Callable[[logging.LogRecord], bool]:
         pattern = re.compile(regex)
diff --git a/tests/testdata/compositional_skills/invalid_yaml_1/qna.yaml b/tests/testdata/compositional_skills/invalid_yaml_1/qna.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97abdde
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testdata/compositional_skills/invalid_yaml_1/qna.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+createdby: invalid_key_1
+version: 2
+seed_examples:xx
+- question: What is this skill about?
+  answer: It's a skill that makes the tests more skillful
+- answer: "answer2"
+  question: "question2"
+- answer: "answer6"
+  question: "This is for a unit test and has a line with 124 characters! It is too long for the default rules but not too long for the customer rules!"
+- answer: "answer3"
+  question: "question3"
+- answer: "answer4"
+  question: "question4"
+- answer: "answer5"
+  question: "question5"
+task_description: For TaxonomyReadingException test