Mary Norris has spent more than three decades in The New Yorker's copy department, maintaining its celebrated high standards. Now she lends her vast experience, good cheer, and finely sharpened pencils to some of our language's most vexing problems in a boisterous book as full of loife as it is of practical advice. Readers--and writers--will find in Norris neither a scold nor a softie but a wise and witty new friend in love with language and alive...

"Have you ever heard of a prickle of porcupines? Or a tower of giraffes? What about a parcel of penguins? This ... romp through the animal kingdom introduces collective nouns for animals through wordplay"--Amazon.com.

"A kinder, funner usage guide to the ever-changing English language and a useful tool for both the grammar stickler and the more colloquial user of English, from linguist and veteran professor Anne Curzan. Our use of language naturally evolves and is a living, breathing thing that reflects who we are. Says Who? offers clear, nuanced guidance that goes beyond "right" and "wrong" to empower us to make informed language choices. Never snooty or scoldy...

Covers more than eighteen hundred words most frequently used by youngsters who are beginning to read, with definitions and sample sentences to clarify meaning.

Confused by the different meanings of words that sound alike, a little girl imagines such unusual sights as "a king who rained" and "the foot prince in the snow."

Rhyming text and illustrations of comical cats present numerous examples of verbs, from "toss and tumble," "jump and jam," to "whine and whisper," "sleep and slam."

Rhyming text and illustrations of comical cats present numerous examples of pronouns and their functions, from "he" and "she" to "anyone", "neither", and "which."