Burling, Robbins, The Talking Ape: How Language Evolved, Oxford University Press, 2005.

This book explores how human language came to be and examines competing linguistic theories and controversies. Burling traces the development of language from gestures and early sounds to the language of modern times.

Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm, The Annotated Brothers Grimm, translated by Maria Tatar, Norton, 2004.

Critics have described Bender’s stories as modern fairy tales. This collection of the Grimm brothers’ original fairy tales includes their most famous tales as well as a few that were left out of many books, once the brothers realized that parents were reading the stories to children. The book includes explanatory notes on the historical and cultural origins of the stories.

Parent, Marc, ed., The Secret Society of Demolition Writers, Random House, 2005.

This collection of short stories by popular contemporary authors has a unique...