《野兽家园》原来是一本儿童插画书,于1963年在美国出版。该书一面世,就受到了孩子和家长的好评,并在次年荣获专为儿童图画书而设的Caldecott Medal奖。这本全文只有338个字的书故事情节简单,但却有丰富的内容,而且富有动感。几十年来它激发了孩子们的无穷想象力。据说,它还是当今美国总统奥巴马女儿的挚爱。在该书出版四十多年后,同名电影在去年的10月上映。要知道,那可是在长久的等待、苛刻的挑选后才定下来的剧本和导演哦。如果你还没有看到电影,我们强烈推荐你先领略一下这部短小精悍的小说的魅力。
美式发音 适合背诵
The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another, his mother called him “wild thing!” and Max said “I’ll eat you up!” so he was sent to bed without eating anything.
That very night in Max’s room a forest grew and grew and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around, and an ocean 1)tumbled by with a private boat for Max, and he sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks, and almost over a year to where the wild things are.
And when he came to the place where the wild things are, they roared their terrible roars and 2)gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws till Max said, “Be still!” and 3)tamed them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all and made him King of All Wild Things.
“And now,” cried Max, “Let the wild4)rumpus start!”
“Now stop!” Max said and sent the wild things off to bed without their supper. And Max, the King of All Wild Things, was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all.
Then all around, from far away across the world, he smelled good things to eat, so he gave up being king of where the wild things are. But the wild things cried, “Oh, please don’t go! We’ll eat you up, we love you so!” And Max said, “No.”
The wild things roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth and rolled their terrible eyes and showed their terrible claws, but Max stepped into his private boat and waved goodbye and sailed back, over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day and into the night of his very own room, where he found his supper waiting for him and it was still hot.
那天晚上,马克斯穿上他的狼外套,搞了一连串的恶作剧。妈妈叫他“小野兽”,听了这话,马克斯说:“我要把你给吃了!”于是,妈妈罚他不吃饭就回房间睡觉。
就在那晚,在马克斯的房间里,一个大森林不停地长啊长啊,最后房顶都长满了藤蔓,四周的墙也渐渐变成了世界的一部分。大海里海浪翻腾,一条属于马克斯的专用小船来到他身边。他上了船,航行了一天一夜,航行了好几个星期,最后航行了几乎一年,终于来到了野兽居住的地方。
当他来到野兽们居住的地方,众野兽疯狂地咆哮,露出锋利的牙齿,骨碌碌地转动着他们凶残的大眼睛,伸出尖尖的爪子。马克斯大喝一声“别动!”,然后使了一个魔术,眼睛一眨也不眨地盯住野兽们混浊的黄眼睛,就把他们驯服了。所有的野兽都很怕马克斯,说他是野兽王国里最厉害的,并且让他当上了野兽大王。
“现在,”马克斯叫道,“我们大家都玩起来吧。”
“停!”马克斯说道,然后不让野兽们吃饭就睡觉去了。而马克斯这位万兽之王觉得好孤独啊,他想到一个有人疼爱他的地方去。
他闻到在很遥远的地方,在世界的另一边有好吃的东西。于是,他放弃了当野兽家园的大王。但野兽们叫道:“噢,求你不要走!我们会把你吃了!我们是多么地爱你啊!”马克斯说,“不行。”
众野兽疯狂地咆哮,露出锋利的牙齿,骨碌碌地转动着他们凶残的大眼睛,伸出尖尖的爪子。但马克斯还是上了他的专用小船,向他们挥手告别,往回驶去。他又航行了几乎一年,航行了好几个星期,航行了一天一夜,回到了他自己的房间。在那里,他发现晚餐还在静静地等着他,而且还是热的呢。
翻译:Portia
好书推荐
以下是几本优秀的儿童图画书。其共同的特点是内容生动活泼，插图色彩明亮，非常适合儿童的口味。这些书有的是近年出版的，有的是半个多世纪前的作品，但都深受孩子和家长的欢迎，是获奖的畅销儿童图画书。
1 The Garden of Abdut Gasazi by Chris Van Allsburg, 158 words (It tells the story of how young Alan Mitz chases Fritz, a dog he is caring for, when Fritz runs away and disappears into a magic garden...)
2 "More, More, More, " Said the Baby by Vera B. Williams, 160 words (It tells the story of three pairs of babies and their grown-ups. Told in a natural, colloquial tone, the simple, engaging text is finely honed with a rhythm that is musical. It has exploratory activities emphasizing basic human features and uses repetitive baby-focused narratives centered on children's daily routines.)
3 Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (author) and Clement Hurd (illustrator), 130 words (The text is a poem, written in simple feminine thyme, describing a bunny's bedtime ritual of saying "goodnight" to various objects in its bedroom: the telephone, the bunny's dollhouse, the bears, etc.)
4 The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, 210 words (It follows a caterpillar as it munches its way through a variety of edibles-such as ice cream, salami. watermelon, one slice of cheese, and a lollipop-before it finally emerges as a beautiful butterfly. )
5 Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems, 196 words (It tells how a little girl goes to the laundrymat with her father, loses her bunny toy, and finally finds it.)