I want to tell you about one of my favorite books: Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. It’s about punctuation, and it unites readers with this self-righteous slogan: Sticklers Unite!

I realize that this may not be the most appealing topic, as it is less than a month until school starts. But in this little volume, you will find simple yet profound help for the grammatically challenged. Which is why it is so appealing to me.

Furthermore, it’s funny. The author has a wonderful sense of humor, and actually makes punctuation seem enjoyable.

Wondering about the title? It’s from a joke:

“A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

“Why?” asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

“I’m a panda,” he says, at the door. “Look it up.”

The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation.

“Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.”

Get it?

So, I like this book a lot. My grammar isn’t all that great, and this book is a huge help. Any book that gives practical examples is welcome, especially one where most of the examples are about Opal Fruits (used to be the British name for Starburst candies, apparently).

You can actually take an online “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” punctuation quiz here. I missed two, which makes me an 83% Stickler.

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