I’m honored to report that Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman is among distinguished company in being named to the Bank Street College of Education list of the Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2013 (Nine to Twelve category).
I’m further honored that it also got a star for Outstanding Merit.
Thank you, Bank Street, for honoring Bill in the city in which he made pop culture history.
Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman made a list entitled “100 Magnificent Children’s Books of 2012,” compiled for the School Library Journal blog Fuse #8 by Betsy Bird.
It is only appropriate. Two of her kind (Robin and Penguin) are in my book.
The Betsy nod is honor enough, yet enhancing that is the company including Don Tate, Gary Golio, Peter Brown, Raina Telgemeier, Mike Rex, Name Dropper, Michelle Markel, and Lemony Snicket. The list also unknowingly contains a hint about an upcoming book of mine. Think Tink.
Thank you Betsy.
By Alice Northover
While I already gave my opinion of the best OUPblog posts of the year, it’s only fair to see what you the reader decided. Here’s our top ten posts according to the number of pageviews they received.
(10) “Olympic confusion in North and South Korea flag mix-up” by Jasper Becker
(9) “Five GIFers for the serious-minded” by Alice Northover
(8) “Seduction by contract: do we understand the documents we sign?” by Oren Bar-Gill
(7) ““Remember, remember the fifth of November”” by Daniel Swift
(6) “Puzzling heritage: The verb ‘fart’” by Anatoly Liberman
(5) “The seven myths of mass murder” by J. Reid Meloy, Ph.D.
(4) “Oh Dude, you are so welcome” by Anatoly Liberman
(3) “How New York Beat Crime” by Franklin E. Zimring
(2) “Oxford Dictionaries USA Word of the Year 2012: ‘to GIF’” by Katherine Martin
And the number one blog post of the year is…
(1) “SciWhys: Why do we eat food?” by Jonathan Crowe
And I thought it would be interesting to note that our eleventh most popular blog post of 2012 is actually from 2009. People still enjoy arguing about unfriending.
Alice Northover joined Oxford University Press as Social Media Manager in January 2012. She is editor of the OUPblog, constant tweeter @OUPAcademic, daily Facebooker at Oxford Academic, and Google Plus updater of Oxford Academic, amongst other things. You can learn more about her bizarre habits on the blog.
Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.
The post Top ten OUPblog posts of 2012 by the numbers appeared first on OUPblog.
By Alice Northover
One of the great advantages of being OUPblog editor is that I read practically everything that was published on the blog in 2012: the 1,095 articles, Q&As, quizzes, slideshows, podcasts, videos, and more from the smartest minds in the scholarly world. When I first attempted the list, I had 30 articles bookmarked and I’d only made it six months back. I’m sure I’ll hate myself for missing a piece tomorrow.
Let’s start off with a recent one: Space law! “Mars, grubby hands, and international law” by Gérardine Goh Escolar, which was part of our Place of the Year series.
It was Alan Turing’s 100th birthday this year and everyone at OUP knows that we (mainly me) struggled to scrape together a full week of blogs posts on Turing to celebrate it. My favorite: “Turing : the irruption of Materialism into thought” by Paul Cockshott.
Just when you think our authors are predictable, one writes about what if you met Jesus and had an iPhone:
“eResurrection?” by Reverend John Piderit, S.J.
One of the great joys of joining OUP this year was learning the press’s history. The first of I hope many posts from our archivist: “Sir Robert Dudley, midwife of Oxford University Press” by Martin Maw.
A regular contributor to the OUPblog, Gordon Thompson wrote a piece on the pre-British invasion back in August: “A British ante-invasion: “Telstar,” 17 August 1962.” An introduction to strange, new music. Who could ask for more?
I cannot possibly pass by our weekly etymology columnist Anatoly Liberman, but choosing a single piece from him is quite difficult. I’ve selected “A lovable bully” without which I’d never have learned of Shakespeare’s love of Dutch slang.
Robert Morrison deserves some kind of award for patience and being one of the loveliest authors to work with (image permissions!). His article on John William Polidori (“Vampyre Rising”) also deserves a few more reads.
I felt Nick Hayes’s piece on the attitude towards the National Health Service just before and after its inception deserved more recognition this year. “Did we really want a National Health Service?” asks questions that people think they have answers to, all wrong. Perhaps that’s why it didn’t get the recognition it deserves.
We had many articles on politics (it was an election year after all), but the one that has really stayed with me is Stephanie Li’s “Opposing narratives of success in politics.” Li captured not only the making of candidates but the reflection of ideologies.
Finally, we had so many fine articles from Oxford World’s Classics editors, but Emily Wilson’s “Seneca in Spring-Time” took me by surprise and made me realize what a poor state my Latin was in.
Bonus blog post:
I can’t possibly include a blog post I composed in my round-up, but I can’t look back on 2012 without thinking of the hours put into “The Oxford Companion to the London 2012 Opening Ceremony.” I never did get round to one on the closing ceremony. Perhaps I can face it in 2013!
Alice Northover joined Oxford University Press as Social Media Manager in January 2012. She is editor of the OUPblog, constant tweeter @OUPAcademic, daily Facebooker at Oxford Academic, and Google Plus updater of Oxford Academic, amongst other things. You can learn more about her bizarre habits on the blog.
Subscribe to the OUPblog via email or RSS.
The post Alice’s top 10 OUPblog posts of 2012 appeared first on OUPblog.
Thanks to Los Angeles Public Library librarian Mara Alpert (and NPR), Bill Finger returned to a medium he wrote for (Nick Carter, Master Detective; Mark Trail) in the 1950s. And I, indirectly, return to the city in which I lived from mid-1997 to late 1999. (It should be noted, however, that Bill himself never made it to California.)
On KPCC (89.3 FM), which, according to Wikipedia has “among the widest-reaching broadcast areas of all public radio stations in Southern California” (approximately 600,000 listeners weekly), Mara included Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman on her list of favorite children’s books of 2012.
The accompanying imagining of Bob Kane’s red-garbed, stiff-winged, ill-fated Batman is not, for some reason, the one from my book. This is the one from my book, by the illustrious (and illustratorious) Ty Templeton:Mara’s interview runs almost seven minutes; the Bill portion starts at 2:48 and runs just over a minute. She calls Bill the Boy Wonder a book she is “dying to talk about” and describes it as “really well written and very interesting.”
Thank you, Mara and KPCC!
And so concludes the longest content lapse I have allowed since launching this blog in early 2008. To those who noticed, I apologize. To trot out that old chestnut on a day when chestnuts are especially apropos, the radio silence was due to circumstances beyond my control.
To resume, I’m honored to share that Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman has been named to multiple “best of 2012” lists and holiday gift guides. (Hey, there are still ten more shopping hours till the end of Christmas!)
USA Today 12/14/12
holiday gift guide to the best graphic novels of the year “Deeply researched…revelatory” Special thanks to David Colton, who also put Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman on the front page of the Life section of USA Today.I’m not only thrilled but also relieved that my book got ink in USA Today. This is because, in August, I was told that the paper would cover the book somehow. Of course, I didn’t take that as a guarantee, but did feel confident it would probably happen…so when I designed Bill the Boy Wonder promotional postcards, in August, I included USA Today on the “as seen in” list.Even if the book ultimately did not make it in, it would still not be a lie per se—or so I rationalized—because Boys of Steel had been in USA Today. If anyone asked, I would claim that “as seen in” referred not specifically to the Batman book but rather to me as an author. I’m glad this didn’t come to pass because no one would have believed me. Washington Post 12/23/12comics gift guide: 12 favorite reads of 2012 Number one, baby! (Disclaimer: They are not ranked qualitatively.)“Deftly, with care, give[s] Finger his due”
Thank you again to Michael Cavna, who also covered the book earlier this year.MTV Geekbest graphic novels of 2012Ditto thanks to Valerie Gallaher (and company), who ran perhaps the funniest Bill-related headlines of the year.Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books2012 Guide Book to Gift Books
“Meticulously researched”
Tabletbest kids’ books of 2012
“Fascinating”
Lastly, I’m flattered that the trailer for Bill the Boy Wonder made the list of “best Batman-themed picture book trailers of 2012.” (Disclaimer: this is a list of one, and self-generated.)
Thank you again, kind reviewers. And thank you also to readers, young and young at heart, who have privately given me equally humbling reviews of a book that has been so very special to me.
How's that for alliteration!
This has been a phenomenal year for books. For picture books, middle grade and YA. I don't envy those folks on award committees because those discussions are going to be *fierce*! This year, I simply couldn't pare things down to 5, so here are my favorite reads of the year. If they haven't appeared on Welcome to my Tweendom before now, they will shortly!
Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz
This creepy Victorian story had me reading under the covers deep into the night!
Liar & Spy, by Rebecca Stead
A NYC mystery slash family story that is incredibly authentic and thoughtful.
Drama, by Raina Telgemeier
Pitch perfect graphic novel about crushes, theater kids and family life.
Starry River of the Sky, by Grace Lin
Lush and magical storytelling matched with extraordinary pacing.
See You At Harry's, by Jo Knowles
A family story that packs an emotional punch.
Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage
A countrified mystery filled with characters to love.
The Great Unexpected, by Sharon Creech
A genre busting layers story that is simply beautiful.
One Year at Coal Harbor, by Polly Horvath
Horvath is back with signature quirk and memorable characters.
Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
A first novel that speaks to kids and adults alike...it will leave you thinking.
Welcome back! I just figured you were taking a well-needed break after the tireless promotional work you did in advance of the release of Bill the Boy Wonder.
Thank you! So kind of you to notice! Yes, I was consumed with that, and other things, but it's no excuse!