内容简介
The classic tale of a peddler, some monkeys and their monkey business.
作者简介
Esphyr Slobodkina (the name is pronounced ess-FEER sloh-BOD-kee-nah) was born in the Siberian town of Chelyabinsk on Sept. 22, 1908.
Esphyr immigrated to the United States on a student visa at the age of 29. She enrolled at the National Academy of Design, NYC, and in the 1930s, she worked painting lamp shades and soon after murals for the WPA. Esphyr was a founding member of the American Abstract Artists, which began amid controversy in 1936.
In 1937 Slobodkina met the children's author Margaret Wise Brown. In an effort to find work as an illustrator, Slobodkina wrote and illustrated a story with collage called Mary And The Poodies to present to Brown. This began a new career for Slobodkina, who illustrated many children's stories for Ms. Brown (including Sleepy ABCs and the Big and Little series) while still continuing her work as an abstract artist.
In her autobiography, (portions available through this web-site) Ms. Slobodkina wrote, "When Margaret died, I was left without a writer, and since she always insisted that she liked the way I told my stories, I took a deep breath and began to send them to my agent." Ms. Slobodkina took her responsibility as a children's book author seriously. In her memoir she wrote: "The verbal patterns and the patterns of behavior we present to children in these lighthearted confections are likely to influence them for the rest of their lives. These aesthetic impressions, just like the moral teachings of early childhood, remain indelible."
Caps for Sale was first published in 1938. Since then it has sold more than two million copies. Today it is considered a children's book classic as generation after generation pass the story along to new readers. In sales it ranks with such classics as Good Night Moon, according to Publisher's Weekly.
Caps for Sale, won a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958 and is memorialized in a painting by Ms. Slobodkina on permanent exhibition in the West Hartford Library, CT.
Ms. Slobodkina wrote and illustrated numerous other books, including Mary and The Poodies (1937), The Wonderful Feast, (1955), The Clock (1956), The Long Island Ducklings (1961), and Pezzo the Peddler and the Circus Elephant, which was first published in 1967 and was reissued in 2002 as Circus Caps for Sale, to name a few.
At the age of 88, Esphyr's primary focus became overseeing the production of musical storybook cassettes of all twenty of her children's books.
At age 90, Esphyr designed a mini museum in Glen Head, Long Island, NY (through her Slobodkina Foundation) as a place where guests can visit and view more than 200 works of art, her handmade dolls and jewelry, as well as her complete collection of children's storybooks, including some original illustrations.
Famed artist and author Esphyr Slobodkina was a leader of the abstract movement in the United States from the 1930s until her death at age 93 in July 2002.
精彩书评
A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business, this absurd and very simple story has become a classic, selling hundreds of thousands of copies since its first publication in 1940. A peddler walks around selling caps from a tall, tottering pile on his head. Unable to sell a single cap one morning, he walks out into the countryside, sits down under a tree, checks that all the caps are in place, and falls asleep. When he wakes up, the caps are gone--and the tree is full of cap-wearing monkeys. His attempts to get the caps back generate the kind of repetitive rhythm that 3- and 4-year-olds will adore.
--Richard Farr
"From an old folk tale [the author] has fashioned this bright picture book, infusing it with a humor which seems to have sprung from her own hearty enjoyment of the troubles of a peddler with a abnd of monkeys."
--The New York Times
前言/序言
《你好,世界:探索奇妙的自然与科学》 一本为小小探索家准备的综合性图画书 面向年龄:4-8岁 装帧:精装(坚固耐用,适合反复翻阅) --- 内容简介: 《你好,世界:探索奇妙的自然与科学》是一本精心策划的图画书,旨在激发学龄前及初小学低年级儿童对我们周围世界的无限好奇心。本书摈弃了单一的故事叙述模式,转而采用一系列引人入胜的微型主题单元,通过色彩鲜明、细节丰富的插画和简明扼要的文字,带领小读者踏上一场跨越自然界、日常生活以及基础科学概念的激动人心的探索之旅。 全书结构清晰,分为四大核心板块,确保知识的广度和深度能完美契合该年龄段儿童的认知发展水平:生命的气息(生物学基础)、地球的脉动(地理与天气)、物质的秘密(基础物理与化学概念)以及人类的创造(工程与日常生活中的科学)。 --- 第一部分:生命的气息 (The Breath of Life) 本章节聚焦于生物的多样性、生命周期以及生物体如何生存。内容设计强调观察与比较。 1. 植物的奇迹: 从一粒种子如何变成参天大树。我们学习不同类型的植物——从高耸的松树到娇艳的玫瑰,再到餐桌上的蔬菜。插画将清晰展示植物的各个部分(根、茎、叶、花),并用生动的比喻解释光合作用——“植物如何用阳光做午餐”。我们还会探索“植物的家庭”:谁是食虫植物?谁住在沙漠里? 2. 动物王国巡礼: 本部分将动物按照栖息地和特征进行分类,而非传统的“哺乳动物/爬行动物”。我们探索“会飞的家庭”(鸟类、昆虫的飞行结构对比),“水下居民”(鱼类、海洋哺乳动物的呼吸方式差异),以及“伪装大师”(介绍变色龙、竹节虫等如何利用环境保护自己)。书中特别设置了“动物的家”对比页,展示蜂巢、蚁穴、鸟巢和人类的房屋有何不同,强调“家”是为生存而建。 3. 变身与成长: 详细描绘几种典型的生命周期。蝴蝶的完全变态(卵、幼虫、蛹、成虫)被分解为精美的四格插图。同时,我们也观察小猫如何长大,以及人类婴儿的成长里程碑,强调“所有生命都在变化”。 4. 五感探索: 这一小节着重于我们如何感知世界。用极具创意的画面,展示眼睛如何捕捉光线、耳朵如何分辨声音的方向和音调。例如,通过对比听见狗叫和听见风吹树叶的不同音波图,让抽象的概念具象化。 --- 第二部分:地球的脉动 (The Pulse of the Earth) 本章节带领孩子们抬头看天,低头看地,了解我们所居住的这颗星球的动态变化。 1. 天气日历: 告别简单的“晴天/雨天”描述。我们介绍云的种类(卷云、积云、层云)及其预示的天气。书中用拟人化的手法描绘了水循环:小水滴从海洋蒸发,变成云朵,然后下雨落回大地,再汇入河流的完整旅程。 2. 昼与夜的秘密: 解释地球的自转导致了昼夜交替。书中配有地球模型图,直观展示当太阳光只能照亮地球的一半时,我们如何体验“白天”和“黑夜”。同时,也引入了季节的概念,解释地轴的倾斜如何影响阳光照射的角度和长短。 3. 大地的构造: 探索陆地和海洋。我们认识不同的地形:高耸的山脉(讲解火山的形成,但用安全的方式展示岩浆冷却的过程),广阔的平原,以及深邃的海洋。书中特设一个“地层切片图”,展示土壤下埋藏的岩石层和化石,激发对地质学的兴趣。 4. 星空下的我们: 介绍简单的天文知识。认识太阳系中的八大行星(用大小和颜色的对比来区分),并解释月亮为什么会“改变形状”(月相),强调月亮本身不发光,而是反射了太阳光。 --- 第三部分:物质的秘密 (The Secrets of Matter) 本章节是基础物理和化学的入门,专注于“事物是由什么构成的”以及“事物如何相互作用”。 1. 固态、液态与气态: 使用生动的对比图来展示物质的三种基本形态。例如,冰块(固体)在加热后如何变成水(液体),再变成水蒸气(气体)。插画会描绘微观视角下,粒子排列的紧密程度,帮助理解为什么固体有固定形状,而气体则会充满整个容器。 2. 混合与分离: 介绍简单的物质混合现象。孩子们将看到沙子和水混合后如何通过过滤分离,糖溶解在水中后为何“消失”,以及如何通过蒸发找回溶解的盐。这些都是安全的、可以与家长一起在家尝试的小实验概念。 3. 光与影的游戏: 探索光的特性。光可以直线传播,并且可以被反射和折射。书中展示了如何用镜子反射光束,以及为什么当我们站在灯光下会长出影子,影子的大小如何随光源位置变化。 4. 声音的振动: 解释声音的产生。通过一个简单的鼓面和沙子演示,说明声音是由物体振动产生的。不同频率的振动产生高音和低音,这些振动如何通过空气传播到我们的耳朵里。 --- 第四部分:人类的创造 (Human Ingenuity) 本章节将科学原理应用到我们每天的生活中,展示人类如何利用自然规律解决问题和创造工具。 1. 简单机械的力量: 介绍基础的物理工具,如杠杆、轮轴和斜面。用一个孩子如何用撬棍轻松搬动一块大石头(杠杆原理),或者描述滑轮系统如何帮助人们把重物举到高处,让抽象的机械原理变得直观易懂。 2. 能源的利用: 介绍我们日常使用的能源类型,如风能、水能、太阳能和电力。书中会展示风车如何转动发电机,水坝如何利用水流发电,强调这些能源的来源和它们对环境的影响,鼓励孩子思考“节约能源”。 3. 建造的艺术: 从桥梁到摩天大楼,本节展示结构工程中的稳定性概念。解释为什么三角形是最坚固的形状,以及为什么桥梁需要拱形结构来分散重量。这部分鼓励孩子思考“如何让东西站得更稳”。 4. 科学家的工具箱: 介绍科学家用来观察世界的工具,例如放大镜(帮助我们看到小到肉眼看不见的东西,如昆虫的翅膀纹理)、温度计(测量冷热)以及简单的天平(比较轻重)。 --- 总结与特色: 《你好,世界》的插图风格是细腻且信息量丰富的写实主义与温馨卡通的结合体。每一页都隐藏着需要孩子们去发现的“小彩蛋”或细节,例如在森林场景中,可以找到特定种类的蘑菇或罕见的甲虫。 本书的文字简洁有力,采用适龄的词汇,但在关键概念处会准确使用科学术语(例如“光合作用”、“地壳”),并立即提供清晰易懂的解释。本书的最终目标不是灌输死知识,而是培养一种持续的好奇心——教会孩子提问“为什么”和“如何做”才是最重要的科学态度。 附录部分还包含了一系列安全的小型家庭科学活动建议,鼓励家长和孩子将书本知识付诸实践。