內容簡介
Best Friends Forever.
There are lots of children on Hill Street, but no little girls Betsy's age. So when a new family moves into the house across the street, Betsy hopes they will have a little girl she can play with. Sure enough, they do—a little girl named Tacy. And from the moment they meet at Betsy's fifth birthday party, Betsy and Tacy becoms such good friends that everyone starts to think of them as one person—Betsy-Tacy.
Betsy and Tacy have lots of fun together. They make a playhouse from a piano box, have a sand store, and dress up and go calling. And one day, they come home to a wonderful surprise—a new friend named Tib.
Ever since their first publication in the 1940's, the Betsy-Tacy stories have been loved by each generation of young readers.
作者簡介
Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980) based her Betsy-Tacy series on her own childhood. Her series still boasts legions of fans, many of whom are members of the Betsy-Tacy Society, a national organization based in Mankato, Minnesota.
精彩書評
"I read every one of these Betsy-Tacy-Tib books twice. I loved them as a child, as a young adult, and now, reading them with my daughter, as a mother. What a wonderful world it was!"
-- Bette Midler, actor and singer
精彩書摘
Chapter One
Betsy Meets Tacy
It was difficult, later, to think of a time when Betsy and Tacy had not been friends. Hill Street came to regard them almost as one person. Betsy's brown braids went with Tacy's red curls, Betsy's plump legs with Tacy's spindly ones, to school and from school, up hill and down, on errands and in play. So that when Tacy had the mumps and Betsy was obliged to make her journeys alone, saucy boys teased her: "Where's the cheese, apple pie?" "Where's your mush, milk?" As though she didn't feel lonesome enough already! And Hill Street knew when Sunday came, even without listening to the rolling bells, for Betsy Ray and Tacy Kelly (whose parents attended different churches), set off down Hill Street separately, looking uncomfortable and strange.
But on this March afternoon, a month before Betsy's fifth birthday, they did not know each other. They had not even seen each other, unless Betsy had glimpsed Tacy, without knowing her for Tacy, among the children of assorted sizes moving into the house across the street. Betsy had been kept in because of bad weather, and all day she had sat with her nose pasted to the pane. It was exciting beyond words to have a family with children moving into that house.
Hill Street was rightfully named. It ran straight up into a green hill and stopped. The name of the town was Deep Valley, and a town named Deep Valley naturally had plenty of hills. Betsy's house, a small yellow cottage, was the last house on her side of Hill Street, and the rambling white house opposite was the last house on that side. So of course it was very important. And it had been empty ever since Betsy could remember.
"I hope whoever moves in will have children," Betsy's mother had said.
"Well, for Pete's sake!" said Betsy's father. "Hill Street is so full of children now that Old Mag has to watch out where she puts her feet down."
"I know," said Betsy's mother. "There are plenty of children for Julia." (Julia was Betsy's sister, eight years old.) "And there are dozens of babies. But there isn't one little girl just Betsy's age. And that's what I'm hoping will come to the house across the street."
That was what Betsy hoped, too. And that was what she had been watching for all day as she sat at the dining room window. She was certain there must be such a little girl. There were girls of almost every size and boys to match, milling about the moving dray and in and out of the house. But she wasn't sure. She hadn't absolutely seen one.
She had watched all day, and now the dining room was getting dark. Julia had stopped practicing her music lesson, and Mrs. Ray had lighted the lamp in the kitchen.
The March snow lay cold and dirty outside the window, but the wind had died down, and the western sky, behind the house opposite, was stained with red.
The furniture had all been carried in, and the dray was gone. A light was shining in the house. Suddenly the front door opened, and a little girl ran out. She wore a hood beneath which long red ringlets spattered out above her coat. Her legs in their long black stockings were thin.
It was Tacy, although Betsy did not know it!
She ran first to the hitching block, and bounced there on her toes a minute, looking up at the sky and all around. Then she ran up the road to the point where it ended on the hill. Some long-gone person had placed a bench there. It commanded the view down Hill Street. The little girl climbed up on this bench and looked intently into the dusk.
"I know just how she feels," thought Betsy with a throb. "This is her new home. She wants to see what it's like." She ran to her mother.
"Mamma!" she cried. "There's the little girl my age. Please let me go out! Just a minute! Please!"
Mrs. Ray was moved by the entreaty. She looked out at the colored sky.
"It does seem to be clearing up," she said. "But you could only stay a minute. Do you want to go to the bother of putting on your things . . ."
"Oh, yes, yes!"
"Overshoes and mittens and everything?"
"Yes, really!"
Betsy flew to the closet, but she could not find her pussy hood. The mittens were twisted on the string inside her coat.
"Mamma! Help me! Please! She'll be gone."
"Help her, Julia," called Betsy's mother, and Julia helped, and at last the pussy hood was tied, and the coat buttoned, and the overshoes buckled, and the mittens pulled on.
Outside the air was fresh and cold. The street lamp had been lighted. It was exciting just to be out at this hour, even without the prospect of meeting the new little girl. But the new little girl still stood on the bench looking down the street.
Betsy ran toward her. She ran on the sidewalk as far as it went. Then she took to the frozen rutty road, and she had almost reached the bench when the little girl saw her.
"Hello!" called Betsy. "What's your name?"
The other child made no answer. She jumped off the bench.
"Don't go!" cried Betsy. "I'm coming."
But the other child without a word began to run. She brushed past Betsy on her headlong flight down the hill. She ran like a frightened rabbit, and Betsy ran in pursuit.
"Wait! Wait!" Betsy panted as she ran. But the new child would not stop. On fleet, black-stockinged legs she ran, faster than Betsy could follow.
"Wait! Wait!" pleaded Betsy but the child did not turn her head. She gained her own lawn, floundered through the snow to her house.
The entrance to her house was through a storm shed. She ran into this and banged the door. The door had a pane of glass in the front, and through that pane she stared fearfully at Betsy.
前言/序言
探尋書海:精選兒童文學導覽 引言:打開想象力的閘門 閱讀,是孩子與世界對話最美妙的方式。它不僅是獲取知識的途徑,更是培養同理心、激發創造力和構建獨立思考能力的基石。本導覽將帶領您深入探訪一係列專為八歲及以上兒童精心挑選的優秀文學作品。這些書籍涵蓋瞭冒險、奇幻、曆史、日常生活觀察等多個主題,旨在為小讀者提供豐富多樣的閱讀體驗,讓他們在文字構建的世界中自由翱翔。我們將側重於那些在敘事技巧、角色塑造和思想深度上錶現卓越的作品,幫助傢長和教育工作者發掘那些真正能夠滋養心靈、拓展視野的寶貴讀物。 第一部分:經典奇幻與宏大敘事 對於步入高年級小讀者而言,高質量的奇幻文學是他們心智成長的絕佳催化劑。這類作品往往設定復雜的魔法係統、引人入勝的故事情節和深刻的道德主題。 《納尼亞傳奇》係列(The Chronicles of Narnia) C.S. 劉易斯構建的納尼亞世界,是一個充滿魔法、會說話的動物和古老預言的王國。這個係列不僅僅是關於孩子們意外闖入另一個世界的冒險故事,它更深層次地探討瞭勇氣、犧牲、忠誠與背叛的主題。從《獅子、女巫與魔衣櫥》中對純粹善意的描繪,到《凱斯賓王子》中對曆史責任的承擔,劉易斯巧妙地將復雜的哲學概念融入到引人入勝的冒險敘事中。小讀者在跟隨佩文西四兄妹的旅程時,不僅體驗瞭扣人心弦的戰鬥場麵,更重要的是,他們開始理解復雜的人性衝突以及麵對睏難時應有的堅韌品質。劉易斯的語言典雅又不失清晰,非常適閤培養青少年對經典文學的鑒賞力。 《地海傳說》係列(The Earthsea Cycle) 厄休拉·K. 勒古恩的《地海傳說》係列是奇幻文學領域中一座難以逾越的高峰。不同於許多強調光明與黑暗二元對立的作品,勒古恩的作品更加關注平衡、知識的代價以及個體責任的重量。主角格得(Ged)從一個魯莽的學徒成長為一代法師的過程,充滿瞭對自我陰影的麵對與接納。書中對魔法本質的探討——即“真名”的力量與限製——為讀者提供瞭一種更深層次的思考維度:真正的力量並非濫用能力,而是對自身局限性的深刻認知。這個係列的敘事節奏沉穩,哲學思辨性強,對於那些開始尋求更具內涵故事的八歲以上讀者來說,是極佳的選擇。 第二部分:現實主義與成長陣痛 並非所有的優秀文學都棲息於魔法王國。許多深刻的作品根植於我們所生活的世界,細膩地描繪瞭孩子在成長過程中必須麵對的挑戰、友誼的考驗以及自我認同的建立。 當代青少年小說(Contemporary Middle Grade Fiction) 這個類彆的作品往往關注傢庭動態、校園生活、友誼的復雜性,以及如何在復雜的人際關係中找到自己的位置。 例如,一些優秀作品會聚焦於處理傢庭變故,如父母離異或親人離世,引導小讀者以健康的方式處理悲傷和不確定性。這類小說通常采用第一人稱敘事,讓孩子們能夠輕鬆地與主角建立情感共鳴。它們強調溝通的重要性,展示瞭即使在最睏難的情況下,真誠的對話也能成為修復關係的橋梁。角色往往是多元且有缺陷的,這使得孩子們明白,完美並不存在,接納不完美纔是成長的標誌。 另一個常見的焦點是“歸屬感”。許多八歲以上的孩子開始感受到社交壓力,渴望融入群體,或為自己的“怪癖”感到不安。這類小說通過塑造那些同樣與眾不同但最終找到自己位置的主角,嚮讀者傳遞瞭強大的信息:獨特性是一種力量而非弱點。成功的現實主義小說不會迴避衝突,但會以成熟的方式展示解決衝突的過程——通常涉及耐心、同理心和適度的妥協。 第三部分:曆史的低語與傳記的力量 將曆史融入故事中,可以使抽象的年代概念變得鮮活可感。高質量的曆史小說能夠帶領年輕讀者“穿越時空”,親身體驗過去時代的生活和挑戰。 曆史背景下的冒險與挑戰 這類作品往往將一個虛構或半虛構的主角置於重大的曆史事件背景下,例如二戰時期的歐洲、美國西進運動時期,或是古代文明的興衰。關鍵在於,故事的驅動力必須是角色的個人奮鬥,而非教科書式的事件羅列。 例如,描繪特定曆史時期的小說,會細緻入微地呈現當時的衣食住行、社會規範和普遍的道德睏境。通過主角的視角,孩子們可以理解“局外人”的感覺,或者體驗在巨大社會變革麵前,個體所能做齣的選擇。這些故事通過人性化的視角,讓曆史不再是冰冷的日期和名字,而是充滿情感和教訓的真實生活片段。它們培養瞭曆史意識,更重要的是,教會瞭孩子們在不同文化和時代背景下保持批判性思考的能力。 人物傳記的藝術:從榜樣中汲取力量 除瞭虛構敘事,針對青少年的傳記作品也至關重要。好的傳記不是簡單地羅列偉人的成就,而是聚焦於他們人生中的關鍵轉摺點、他們如何剋服早期的失敗、以及他們堅持不懈的動力源泉。 對於八歲以上的讀者,傳記應側重於展示“過程”而非“結果”。例如,描述一位科學傢如何經曆無數次失敗纔獲得突破,或者一位社會活動傢如何從小處著手推動變革。這種敘事方式潛移默化地教導孩子,偉大的成就往往是無數次不為人知的努力和韌性的纍積。通過閱讀這些真實的人生故事,孩子們能夠內化“毅力”和“奉獻”的價值,將榜樣的力量轉化為自己學習和生活的動力。 第四部分:科學、邏輯與解謎的樂趣 對於邏輯思維能力正在快速發展的年齡段,涉及科學概念、邏輯推理和解謎元素的故事極具吸引力。 科學幻想與邏輯推理的結閤 優秀的科幻作品,即使是麵嚮青少年的,也應建立在閤理的科學(或僞科學)基礎之上,並以此為框架探索倫理睏境或未來的可能性。這類故事鼓勵孩子們提齣“如果……會怎樣?”的問題,並嘗試通過邏輯推演來預測後果。 例如,涉及時間旅行或平行宇宙的作品,能極好地訓練孩子理解因果關係和多重變量的影響。敘事者需要清晰地設定規則,並嚴格遵守這些規則,這本身就是對讀者邏輯思維的挑戰和訓練。 同時,偵探小說和解謎故事也是這一類彆的重要組成部分。成功的謎題故事需要作者精心布局綫索和誤導信息。讀者必須主動地參與到分析信息、排除可能性和形成假設的過程中。這類閱讀體驗極大地增強瞭孩子的專注力和細節觀察能力。他們學會瞭區分事實與推測,這是未來學習和解決復雜問題不可或缺的能力。 結語:選擇的智慧 為八歲及以上的孩子選擇書籍,核心在於平衡“趣味性”與“啓發性”。我們希望他們沉浸於故事,同時也希望他們能從故事中有所領悟、有所成長。本導覽所推薦的這些類型和風格的文學作品,旨在提供一個堅實的基礎,鼓勵孩子們探索書籍世界的廣闊與深邃,培養他們終身閱讀的習慣與對知識的渴求。真正的閱讀樂趣,在於發現那些超越故事情節本身的意義,並在這些文字中找到屬於自己的聲音與力量。