School has begun again. My review for this week is about a book that is a staple in the lives of many students. If you haven't looked at it in a while, I recommend The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. And in particular, I highly recommend the 2005 edition illustrated by Maira Kalman. It should never be underestimated the power and joy good pictures can bring when placed amongst a list of grammar rules.

This book has had a few incarnations. A professor at Cornell University, William Strunk, Jr., first wrote the book in 1918. Four decades later, one of his former students, well-known children's author E.B. White, edited and revised the book.

The book is broken down into six main sections: "Elementary Rules of Usage," "Elementary Principles of Composition," "A Few Matters of Form," "Words and Expressions Commonly Misused," "An Approach to Style," and "Spelling." Each section contains basic rules and examples of each. Sometimes the information is straightforward, such as when to use "it's or "its". At other times, the authors' editorial voice comes through. One of my favorite examples is rule #9, 'Do not affect a breezy manner' under "An Approach to Style".

The volume of writing is enormous, these days, and much of it has a sort of windiness about it, almost as though the author were in a state of euphoria. "Spontaneous me," sang Whitman, and, in his innocence, let loose the hordes of uninspired scribblers who would one day confuse spontaneity with genius.

It goes on, but I think you get the idea of what the tone is.

And the illustrations? I will confess I have been a fan of children's author and illustrator Maira Kahlman for many years. Consequently, I was predisposed to think the images in this text are wonderful. I do believe that they add a lightness to a book that could otherwise be perceived as a brick. Generally speaking, a person doesn't just sit and read Elements of Style from cover to cover; that is obviously not its purpose. With this edition, a person not only finds and learns a rule, but also an image accompanying it. How much more enjoyable is that?

If you'd like to get a feel for her influence on this edition, you can watch a short (approximately three-minute) film here.

We all have rules to live by. Why not make learning them as fun as possible?

Julia Eussen received her B.A. in English from Kansas State University. She is currently a graduate student in Eastern Michigan University's Professional Writing Program. She is also an active member of the Ann Arbor Classics Book Group and has recently begun to re-acquaint herself with good poetry. She can be reached at jeussen at emich dot com.