From Publishers Weekly
This British import, a survey of influential children's books (part of the 1001 series and edited by the Guardian's children's books editor), offers a comprehensive and diverse compendium of more than a century's worth of essential reads. The compact and encyclopedia-thick format is divided into five age ranges. A review of each book is accompanied by original publication information (readers will have to research current availability, especially as some titles differ in the U.S. market) and themes, with cover and interior art interspersed throughout. Favorites like Bridge to Terabithia will satisfy traditionalists, while crossover books like Italo Calvino's The Baron in the Trees and international selections (for example, Swedish author Pernilla Stalfelt's The Death Book) will broaden the canon. An asset for all those who've caught—or never lost—the bug.

A veteran copyeditor studies the practice of diagramming sentences in a charming and funny look back at its odd history, its elegant method, and its rich, ongoing possibilities.

From the outside, you'd think I have it all: beautiful house, wonderful children, devoted husband. But am I happy? I think so. There's nothing that has gone terribly wrong. There's no reason for me not to be happy. But I don't feel happy so much as I feel I'm just going through the motions. Sometimes I have the feeling that there's more and I just haven't found it yet. But what . . . and how dare I want more? Isn't all that I have enough?
--from The Nine Rooms of Happiness