童书选读(1)

美国的孩子太幸福了，有那么多好的童书可以读。

坦白地说我每天晚上上赶着给孩子们读书，主要是因为我自己也非常喜欢那些书。小时候一是没有好书读，二是家长不准读跟课业无关的书。现在可是让我过了把瘾，几年里也算是读书过千卷了。现在把其中印象深刻的几本拿出来晒晒,先说说上周刚读的＂A light in the attic" ("阁楼上的光＂）吧:

我以前就特别喜欢丰子恺，那天有朋友说到写这书的家伙有丰的风骨，而且他以前还写过＂爱心树（Loving Tree)"，所以就毫不犹豫地在时代书店买了中文版，又在图书馆找到了英文版。上周星期天开始给两个小东西读，先读一遍英文，再把中文版里的同一首诗读一遍。

我真的太喜欢希尔大叔那天马行空的想象和大智若愚的幽默反讽了，而且他书里的很多句子都带有的禅意，所以这本书实际上很适合大人读。 没想到小东西们也听得咯咯地笑，而且反复要我读他们觉得最有趣的那几首。 大概希尔那难得的童真，幽默风趣的句子和简单夸张的配图，还是能够直接进到孩子们的心里吧。

Hammock

Grandma sent the hammock.

The good lord sent the breeze.

I’m here to do the swinging—

Now, who’s gonna move the trees?

Arrows

I shot an arrow toward the sky,

It hit a white cloud floating by.

The cloud fell dying to the shore,

I don’t shoot arrows anymore.

Tired

I’ve been working so hard you just wouldn’t believe,

And I am tired!

There’s so little time and so much to achieve,

And I am tired!

I’ve been lying here holding the grass in its place,

Pressing a leaf with the side of my face,

Tasting the apples to see if they’re sweet,

Counting the toes on a centipede’s feet.

I’ve been memorizing the shape of that cloud,

Warning the robins to not chirp so loud,

Shooing the butterflies off the tomatoes,

Keeping an eye out for floods and tornadoes.

I’ve been supervising the work of ants

And thinking of pruning the cantaloupe plants,

Timing the sun to see what time it sets,

Calling the fish to swim into my nets,

And I’ve taken twelve thousand and forty-one breaths,

And I am tired!

Channels

Channel 1’s no fun.

Channel 2’s just news.

Channel 3’s hard to see.

Channel 4 is just a bore.

Channel 5 is all jive.

Channel 6 needs to be fixed.

Channel 7 and Channel 8—

Just old movies, not so great.

Channel 9’s a waste of time.

Channel 10 is off, my child.

Wouldn’t you like to talk a while?

Frozen Dream

I’ll take the dream I had last night

And put it in my freezer,

So someday long and far away

When I’m and old grey geezer,

I’ll take it out and thaw it out,

This lovely dream I’ve frozen,

And boil it up and sit me down

And dip my old cold toes in.

The Lost Cat

We can’t find the cat,

We don’t know where she’s at,

Oh, where did she go?

Does anyone know?

Let’s ask this walking hat.

It’s Hot

It’s hot!

I can’t get cool,

I’ve drunk a quart of lemonade.

I think I’ll take my shoes off

And sit around in the shade.

It’s hot!

My back is sticky,

The sweat rolls down my chin.

I think I’ll take my clothes off

And sit around in my skin.

It’s hot!

I’ve tried with ‘lectric fans,

And pools and ice cream cones.

I think I’ll take my skin off

And sit around in my bones.

It’s still hot!