"Though made for children, Japanese toy robots can catch the eye of even the most discriminating adults... more

"When Philip Pullman started his tale of two 12-year-olds, he thought it would appeal to a few clever kids and a few adults. So far "His Dark Materials" has sold 15 million copies... more

"The Victorians can’t win: Either we see them as sexually repressed kill-joys or pathetic hypocrites — lascivious aesthetes addicted to pornography, child prostitution, and opium. But are the strangest stories true?... more

"Often, the other end of the twig was chewed until its fibers separated to form a primitive toothbrush called a chew-stick. Some cultures, like the Japanese, developed rigid rules about how such sticks were held and used.... more

"Little in literature seems smaller or simpler than Aesop. People assume that everyone has read the fables, or had the fables read to them. Thanks to Aesop, we have a common understanding of a wolf in sheep's clothing, the lion's share, the hare versus the tortoise, the playful grasshopper, sour grapes, squeaky wheel, and much more... more

"We received our Spirograph as the space race was underway and the Cold War was yet to thaw, the summer of love was over and the Tet Offensive was soon to begin. Soon my brother would receive his draft lottery number. Perhaps the Spirograph offered a bit of rationality and order to the chaos... more

"It's tempting to say that when I was a child I read as a child, and when I became a man I put aside childish books, but that's not fair to Steinbeck or, for that matter, to my own youthful self... more