《晚安，月亮》：带孩子进入甜蜜梦乡

2023-02-28河北胡金莹

疯狂英语·新悦读 2023年1期

河北胡金莹

和月亮道晚安，和身边的事物道晚安，和家中的小动物道晚安……这是多少孩子潜意识中最想做的事情啊！

主题语境：人与社会篇幅：329词建议用时：6分钟

1Without a mystery, a hero or a handsome prince,Goodnight Moonhas helped millions of children relax and sleep, in more than two dozen languages, for 76 years.

2Written by Margaret Wise Brown, with illustrations (插图) by Clement Hurd, the picture book, which has sold more than 40 million copies since its publication in 1947, wins its readers with a series of goodnights to the everyday objects in“the great green room”before bedtime.

3“Once upon a time, librarians set the standard for what books children should read.For decades,they believed classic fairy tales and fantasies (幻想作品)were best for young minds,”says children's book historian Leonard S.Marcus.He explains,“They favored stories that transported children out of the everyday world and enriched their imagination.”By contrast(相比之下), Brown brought children into a world they might know.“Goodnight Moonwas one of the first books for young children that focused on the everyday world and recognized its value and significance for young children,”says Marcus, author ofMargaret Wise Brown:Awakened by the Moon.

4In 1935, Brown began a long association (合作) with the progressive Bank Street school in New York City. Founded by educator and writer Lucy Sprague Mitchell, Bank Street brought together psychologists, pediatricians (儿科医生), sociologists, and student teachers to explore how children learn. They collected data by observing and talking directly to the experts: the children themselves. Marcus says Bank Street practitioners (从业人员) learned that children want to know about the world they are in at the moment, starting with their own rooms, their own surroundings and their own streets. The noises they hear, the airplanes that go overhead, the trains and cars that go by, they thought all those everyday things were wonderful from a young child's view.”

5WhenGoodnight Moonwas published in 1947, reviews were generally positive. One of them was that in these days of hurry, a book for little children which creates an atmosphere of peace and calm is something for which to be thankful.