Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children’s Book: Life Lessons from Notable People from All Walks of Life

Over 100 noteworthy figures, from Ursula K. Le Guin to Jay Leno, convey lessons learned from specific children’s books in this affirming collaboration, which is divided into six thematic sections and features full-color images. For each selection, a contributor provides a brief essay about how the book influenced him or her, accompanied by an excerpt. The divergent articulations on the impact of such stories as The Secret Garden (“What was the gift of this magical book ?” muses Katherine Paterson. “Then I realize that it was wonder”) and Little House in the Big Woods (“[T]he romance of the family’s wanderlust and their almost unflagging good spirits... shone from the pages,” writes Emily Bazelon of Slate.com) create a moving patchwork message about the transformative powers of reading. (Oct.)