. . ever. Since his first appearance in 1940’s Batman #1, the Joker stands alone as the most hated, feared, and loved villain in the DC Universe. Though his true origins may be unknown, the Clown Prince of Crime’s psychotic appearances in hundreds of comic books has shaped the way we look at Batman, comic books, and ourselves. Indeed, a hero is only as good as his nemesis, so the Joker’s heinous crimes, including murdering the second Robin and paralyzing Batgirl, have elevated Batman to the highest levels of crime-fighting, and we, the readers, to the finest levels of quality pop-culture entertainment.The Joker is the first retrospective chronicling one of the most groundbreaking and game-changing villains of all time, and contains images from his more than seventy years in comics by comic book artists and writers such as Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Jerry Robinson, Dick Sprang, Grant Morrison, Dave McKean, Neil Gaiman, Geoff Johns, Alan Moore, Brian Bolland, Brian Azzarello, Bruce Timm, and Paul Dini. Also included are images from his various film, television, animated, and video game incarnations, such as the timeless interpretations by Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson, and Heath Ledger, who won his posthumous Oscar for his portrayal of the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight. This book is a must-have for fans and anyone who wants to die laughing.

    In her first book, The Word Spy, she shared with us the secrets she'd learnt about English, from the first alphabet in 4000 BC right up to the tricks of modern texting. In The Return of the Word Spy she continues the fascinating journey through language, with chapters on language families, how we learn to speak, grammar and written forms of communication. In an accessible, engaging style, the WORD SPY explains the meaning of nouns, verbs, pronouns, 'dead' languages, word origins and other wordy wonders.Packed with cartoons, games, facts and puzzles, The Return of the Word Spy continues the WORD SPY's fascinating journey through the English language.

    A new reader finds sight words very frustrating until they are memorized. A good reader will be able to instantly recognize sight words without having to 'figure them out'. Meet the Sight Words DVDs make learning sight words fun and easy. Now it is time to practice what you have learned. Level 1 books focus on the 16 most common sight words. Meet the Sight Words Series products have won over 25 national awards and are used in thousands of schools! You will be amazed at what your little one can learn!TMFeaturning: a, and, for, have, he, I, in, is, it, of, play, said, that, the, to & you

    This reference and practice book looks at the most colourful and fun area of English vocabulary - idioms. This book will appeal to students at advanced level who want to understand and use the English really used by native speakers, and students preparing for higher level exams, such as CAE, CPE and IELTS. Over 1,000 of the most useful and frequent idioms, which learners are likely to encounter are presented and practised in typical contexts, so that learners using this book will have hundreds of idioms 'at their fingertips'.

    How can poetry engage with a global ecosystem under duress? How do poetic languages, forms, structures, syntaxes, and grammars contend or comply with the forces of environmental disaster? Can innovating languages forward the cause of living sustainably in a world of radical interconnectedness? In what ways do vectors of geography, race, gender, class, and culture intersect with the development of individual or collective ecopoetic projects?Contributors include: Karen Leona Anderson, Jack Collom, Tina Darragh, Marcella Durand, Laura Elrick, Brenda Iijima, Peter Larkin, Jill Magi, Tracie Morris, Catriona Mortimer-Sandilands, Julie Patton, Jed Rasula, Evelyn Reilly, Leslie Scalapino, James Sherry, Jonathan Skinner, and Tyrone Williams.Co-published with Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs

    The book draws on Oxford's unrivalled dictionary research program and language monitoring, and relates the fascinating stories behind many of our most curious terms and expressions in order to offer the reader a much more detailed explanation than can be found in a general English dictionary. Organized A-Z, the entries include first known use along with examples that illustrate the many faces of the particular word or phrase, from 'handsome' to 'bachelor' and 'cute' to 'baby', from 'pagan' to 'palaver' and 'toff' to 'torpedo'. Also featured are almost 20 special panels that cover expressions common in English but drawn from other languages, such as 'coffee', 'sugar', and 'candy' from Arabic or 'booze', 'brandy', and 'gin' (Dutch). This absorbing volume is useful for language students and enthusiasts, but also an intriguing read for any person interested in the development of the English language and of language development in general. It also includes an extended introduction on the history of the English language.

    From wolves to functional magnetic resonance imaging, the essay draws the reader through the text and ultimately beyond it. Because “the experience of reading a story does not end with the last page.”That’s the point at which the real development begins.

    With characters such as Andy, April, Alma, Grandpa Goose and George the giraffe, the differences in the oft-changing pronunciation of some letters becomes obvious. For example, through "Yolanda the yellow yak," "Lynn" and her "cymbals" and "Kyle's pig sty," Nyssen clearly explains the letter "y" and its mysterious ability to make three sounds and be both a consonant and a vowel.Beginning in simple, sporadic rhyme, Nyssen opts for an alliterative and more effective free verse for most of the book.The real strength is her novel color scheme for letters that shows, for example, the short "a" in green letters, the long "a" in red and its "third sound" in brown... Motz's inventive illustrations radiate charm and imagination, greatly helping to distinguish Nyssen's book from other early reader alphabets.An excellent study guide with clever illustrations to assist with the basics."~Kirkus Indie: Kirkus Media LLC

    A writer encounters Hiroshima s survivors at the original Ground Zero as 9/11 changes her marriage and family back home.