Children's literature continues to be one of the most rapidly expanding and exciting of interdisciplinary academic studies, of interest to anyone concerned with literature, education, internationalism, childhood or culture in general. The second edition of Peter Hunt's bestselling International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature offers comprehensive coverage of the subject across the world, with substantial, accessible, articles by specialists and world-ranking experts. Almost everything is here, from advanced theory to the latest practice – from bibliographical research to working with books and children with special needs. This edition has been expanded and includes over fifty new articles. All of the other articles have been updated, substantially revised or rewritten, or have revised bibliographies. New topics include Postcolonialism, Comparative Studies, Ancient Texts, Contemporary Children's Rhymes and Folklore, Contemporary Comics, War, Horror, Series Fiction, Film, Creative Writing, and 'Crossover' literature. The international section has been expanded to reflect world events, and now includes separate articles on countries such as the Baltic states, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Iran, Korea, Mexico and Central America, Slovenia, and Taiwan.

Java® Performance Companion shows how to systematically and proactively improve Java performance with today’s advanced multicore hardware and complex operating system environments. The authors, who are all leading Java performance and Java HotSpot VM experts, help you improve performance by using modern software engineering practices, avoiding common mistakes, and applying tips and tricks gleaned from years of real-world experience. Picking up where Charlie Hunt and Binu John’s classic Java Performance left off, this book provides unprecedented detail on two powerful Java platform innovations: the Garbage First (G1) garbage collector and the HotSpot VM Serviceability Agent. Coverage includes Leveraging G1 to overcome limitations in parallel, serial, and CMS garbage collection Understanding each stage of G1 GC collections, both young and old Getting under the hood with G1 and efficiently fine-tuning it for your application Identifying potential optimizations, interpreting experimental results, and taking action Exploring the internals of the HotSpot VM Using HotSpot VM Serviceability Agent to analyze, triage, and resolve diverse HotSpot VM issues Troubleshooting out of memory errors, Java level deadlocks, and HotSpot VM crashes Extending the Serviceability Agent, and using the Plugin for VisualVM Mastering useful HotSpot VM command line options not covered in JavaTM Performance Java® Performance Companion can help you squeeze maximum performance and value from Java with JDK 8 or 9–for any application, in any environment. Register your product at informit.com/register for convenient access to downloads, updates, and corrections as they become available.

First in a stunning new urban fantasy series from an author who “NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE.” (BOOKLIST, STARRED REVIEW) Demon hunter Maxine Kiss wears her armor as tattoos, which unwind from her body to take on forms of their own at night. They stand between her and her enemies, just as Maxine stands between humanity and the demons breaking out from behind the prison veils. It is a life lacking in love, reveling in death, until one moment—and one man— changes everything.

With over 240 breathtaking photographs and footage from the landmark BBC series, The Hunt captures the dramatic encounters of predator and prey in an entirely new light. Featuring the extraordinary strategies of a huge range of predators, from cheetahs and African wild dogs to killer whales and polar bears, these images and stories will revolutionise what you thought you knew about life in the wild. Whether through speed, stamina or complex subterfuge, each creatureâe(tm)s strategy is honed to its environment âe" and remarkable adaptations mean that the hunted often can, and do, outwit their hunters. Itâe(tm)s a life-or-death duel where each animalâe(tm)s skills are stretched to the very limit. The final chapter of the book goes behind the scenes to recount the adventures of the production teams as they themselves stalk their quarry âe" and are sometimes stalked âe" to discover never-before-seen species and previously undocumented behaviours. From the producers of Frozen Planet and Planet Earth, The Hunt reveals in astonishing detail the most surprising and significant events in the natural world.

Three friends go on a hike searching for fall leaves.

The Wheel of Time is now an original series on Prime Video, starring Rosamund Pike as Moiraine! In The Great Hunt, the second novel in Robert Jordan’s #1 New York Times bestselling epic fantasy series, The Wheel of Time®, Rand al’Thor and his companions set out to retrieve a powerful artifact from The Dark One’s Shadowspawn. For centuries, gleemen have told the tales of The Great Hunt of the Horn. So many tales about each of the Hunters, and so many Hunters to tell of... Now the Horn itself is found: the Horn of Valere long thought only legend, the Horn which will raise the dead heroes of the ages. And it is stolen. In pursuit of the thieves, Rand al’Thor is determined to keep the Horn out of the grasp of The Dark One. But he has also learned that he is The Dragon Reborn—the Champion of Light destined to stand against the Shadow time and again. It is a duty and a destiny that requires Rand to uncover and master extraordinary capabilities he never imagined he possessed. Since its debut in 1990, The Wheel of Time® has captivated millions of readers around the globe with its scope, originality, and compelling characters. The last six books in series were all instant #1 New York Times bestsellers, and The Eye of the World was named one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read. The Wheel of Time® New Spring: The Novel #1 The Eye of the World #2 The Great Hunt #3 The Dragon Reborn #4 The Shadow Rising #5 The Fires of Heaven #6 Lord of Chaos #7 A Crown of Swords #8 The Path of Daggers #9 Winter's Heart #10 Crossroads of Twilight #11 Knife of Dreams By Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson #12 The Gathering Storm #13 Towers of Midnight #14 A Memory of Light By Robert Jordan and Teresa Patterson The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time By Robert Jordan, Harriet McDougal, Alan Romanczuk, and Maria Simons The Wheel of Time Companion By Robert Jordan and Amy Romanczuk Patterns of the Wheel: Coloring Art Based on Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A fine collection...an excellent introduction to Chrétien's world and work. Highly recommended. CHOICE Chrétien de Troyes is arguably the creator of Arthurian romance, and it is on his work that later writers have based their interpretations. This book offers both crucial information on, and a comprehensive coverage of, all aspectsof the work of Chrétien de Troyes - the literary and historical background, patronage, his influence on other writers, manuscripts and editions of his work and, at the heart of the volume, major essays on the themes, techniques and artistic achievements in each of his compositions; the contributions, all from leading experts in Chrétien and related studies, have been commissioned especially for this volume and are designed to remain accessible to studentswhile also addressing specialists in Arthurian studies and Chrétien de Troyes. They reflect the most current critical and scholarly views on one of the greatest of medieval authors. CONTRIBUTORS: JOHN W. BALDWIN, JUNEHALL MCCASH, LAURENCE HARF-LANCNER, NORRIS J. LACY, DOUGLAS KELLY, KEITH BUSBY, PETER F. DEMBOWSKI, ROBERTA L. KRUEGER, DONALD MADDOX, SARA STURM-MADDOX, JOAN TASKER GRIMBERT, MATILDA TOMARYN BRUCKNER, TONY HUNT, RUPERT T. PICKENS, ANNIE COMBES, MICHELLE SZKILNIK, EMMANUELE BAUMGARTNER