儿童节特供：11本最伟大的英文童书

6. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince (1943)
《小王子》（1943年），安托万•德•圣埃克苏佩里着

 

This parable, written and illustrated by an aviator disappeared with his plane in 1944, encapsulates the meaning of life in an encounter between a pilot who crash lands in the Sahara and a young prince visiting from a small planet. "It is only with one's heart that one can see clearly," Saint-Exupéry writes, in one of dozens of illuminating life lessons. "What is essential is invisible to the eye."
《小王子》的作者兼插画师是一名飞行员，他于1944年在飞行中失踪。这则寓言故事将生命的意义寓于迫降在撒哈拉沙漠的飞行员和来自小星球的小王子的一次相遇中。圣埃克苏佩里写下了众多发人深省的人生感悟，其中一则写道：“肉眼看不见事务的本质，唯有用心才能洞察一切”。

"Discovered in childhood, this story of leaving home brings the hope and promise of a world opening up to the little prince," says Shelf Awareness children's editor Jennifer M Brown. "As we return to the book at later points in our lives, we experience the story from the pilot's point of view, sadder yet richer, and heartened because we are not alone on life's journey." (Credit: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
《书架认知》杂志的儿童板块编辑珍妮弗•M•布朗称：“童年时读这本书，这是小王子离开家乡，踏入一个充满希望和愿景的世界的故事。长大些再看，我们从飞行员的视角重新感受了这个故事，有了更伤感却也更丰富的体会，还因为人生旅途中并非孤身一人而欣慰感动。”（来源：霍顿•米夫林•哈考特出版社）

5. Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868)
《小妇人》（1868年），路易莎•梅•奥尔科特着

 

The story of the four March sisters as they pass from childhood innocence to young adulthood has endured from one generation to the next, never losing its power to enthrall. The autobiographical novel speeds along, thanks to crisp, realistic dialogue, enduring characters and keen insights into family dynamics.
马奇家四姐妹从纯真的童年到初长成人的故事代代流传，经久不衰。这本自传体小说对话鲜活真实、人物形象深入人心、对家庭动态的洞察敏锐，情节紧凑、引人入胜。

"Meg was Amy's confidant and monitor, and by some strange attraction of opposites Jo was gentle Beth's," Alcott writes. (Jo was the character most like its author.)"One name will explain my adoration for Little Women: Jo March!" says Booklist senior editor Donna Seaman. "What book-loving young reader doesn't revere Louisa May Alcott's intrepid, ink-stained hero? Of course, Alcott was also one brilliant and gripping storyteller with sharp and knowing opinions. So astutely constructed is this novel, it sustains repeated readings." (Credit: Transatlantic Press)
奥尔科特写道：“梅格是艾米的知己和监护人，而温柔的贝思对乔又有某种神奇的异性魅力。”（乔的性格最接近作者本人。）《书单》杂志资深编辑唐娜•希曼说：“一个名字就能解释我为什么喜欢《小妇人》：乔•马奇！爱读书的年轻读者怎么会不崇拜路易莎•梅•奥尔科特笔下那无畏的英雄呢？当然了，奥尔科特也是位才华横溢、抓人眼球的作者，她的观点既犀利又博学。所以这本小说设计精巧，经得起反复阅读品味。”（来源：跨大西洋出版社）

4. Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
《爱丽丝梦游仙境》（1865年），路易斯•卡罗尔着

 

"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice, 'without pictures or conversation?' Suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her."
“爱丽丝和姐姐并排坐在岸边，由于无事可做，开始觉得腻烦：她不时朝姐姐正在读的那本书上瞧上一两眼，可书上没有插图，也没有对话，爱丽丝心想，‘一本书要是没有插图和对话，那有什么意思呢？’突然一只红眼睛的白兔贴着她身边跑了过去。”

Charles Dodgson's Victorian fantasy was an instant sensation when published 150 years ago under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. To this day Alice's trip down the rabbit hole and her encounters with the Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter and the rest, are fresh fodder for the literary imagination. Alice is now in the public domain, and the versions and variations continue to multiply. "Alice will always be my favourite because I love her curiosity and bravery," says Library Journal columnist Barbara Hoffert. (Credit: Macmillan)
150年前，查尔斯•道奇森用笔名路易斯•卡罗尔写下了这部维多利亚时代风格的奇幻故事，一经出版便引起轰动。直到如今，爱丽丝跌进兔子洞里的旅行，与柴郡猫、白兔、红心女王、疯帽子先生及其他角色的邂逅，仍然是文学想象力的源泉。爱丽丝俨然成为一个大众形象，人们根据她又不断创造出各种版本的故事。“爱丽丝会永远是我最喜欢的角色，因为我爱她的好奇心和勇敢无畏，”《图书馆杂志》专栏作家芭芭拉•霍佛特这样评价爱丽丝。（来源：麦克米伦出版社）

3. Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are (1963)
《野兽出没的地方》（1963年），莫里斯•桑达克着

 

In Sendak’s Caldecott Medal-winning picture book young Max, sent to bed without supper by his mother, escapes into his imagination, “where the wild things are”. “It's a concise, eloquent, moving depiction of a child learning to master his own emotions, which is the chief task of all children everywhere,” writes Time magazine book critic Lev Grossman. “This is one of those books that has everything: beautiful, rich and surprising text, matched with beautiful, rich and surprising illustration,” says Daniel Hahn, author of the new Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. “But more than that… it’s how the words and the pictures and the page design combine to tell a story that is both simple and full of psychological insight, wisdom and truth. As close as it’s possible to come to a perfect book.” (Credit: Harper)
桑达克的这个绘本作品曾摘得凯迪克奖。书中，年幼的马克斯没吃晚饭就被妈妈赶去睡觉。他逃进了自己想象的世界中，也就是“野兽出没的地方”。《时代》杂志评论家利夫-格罗斯曼写道：“这本书描写了一个孩子学着控制自己的情感，这也是世界各地所有孩子的主要任务。绘本简明动人，令人感动。”新版《牛津儿童文学指南》作者丹尼尔-哈恩说：“这本书有你想要的一切：优美、丰富且令人惊讶的内容、以及相配的同等优秀的插图。不仅如此，绘本的词语和插图以及页面设计巧妙结合，讲述了一个简朴、充满对心灵的洞悉、又饱含智慧和真理的故事，几近完美。”

2. CS Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
《狮子、女巫与魔衣橱》（1950年），C•S•路易斯着

 

Lewis’ high fantasy classic drew high praise in our critics’ poll. “CS Lewis’ perfect fable The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is subtitled 'a story for children',” says author and critic David Abrams. “But The Chronicles of Narnia are stories for everybody. They can be read as Christian allegory or as a magical fable about four children who stumble across a magic wardrobe and, pushing their way through mothballed fur coats, enter a land of snow and forests and fauns and lampposts and a white-skinned, black-hearted Queen who dispenses turkish delight like deadly heroin.”
在我们的投票中，路易斯这本高度奇幻经典之作得到了很高的评价。作家兼评论员大卫•阿勃拉姆斯说：“路易斯的完美寓言故事《狮子、女巫与魔衣橱》副标题是‘写给儿童的故事’，但《纳尼亚传奇》人人都可阅读。它们可以被看作基督教寓言，或者有关四位儿童的神奇寓言故事。他们偶然发现了一个魔法衣橱，穿过封存好的皮毛大衣，来到一片冰雪森林世界。这里有半人半羊的农牧神、街灯柱、雪白肌肤但心肠狠毒的女王，她在分发像海洛因一样致命的土耳其软糖。

“This enchanting story combines unsettling magic, psychological realism and a deep sense of beauty,” notes critic Roxana Robinson, president of the Authors Guild. “Lewis is wonderful at descriptions of the physical world. It is both thrilling and comforting to read, intelligent, compassionate and graceful.” (Credit: Geoffrey Bles)
美国作协主席、评论家洛克珊娜-罗宾逊说：“这个令人着迷的故事把让人不安的魔法、心理现实主义和深刻的美感融合在一起。路易斯擅长描写现实世界。故事读来惊心动魄又令人欣慰，充满睿智、富有怜悯又不失优美。”（来源：杰弗雷-布雷出版社）

1. EB White, Charlotte’s Web (1952)
《夏洛特的网》（1952年），EB怀特着

 

“One day when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was doomed to die,” writes White. Charlotte’s Web topped our critics’ poll. “If I were asked to put one book in a space capsule to send to some far-off galaxy to evoke life in all its complexity, I would send White's masterpiece about friendship, loss, resignation and mortality,” notes NPR’s Maureen Corrigan. “It was the first book in which I encountered mortality, legacy and love that transcended differences,” writes author and critic Rigoberto González. “Those were huge lessons from a book that, at its core, was about an adorable friendship between a spider and a pig.”
怀特写道：“一天，在我去喂猪的路上，我开始为猪感到难过，因为就像大多数猪那样，它注定会死去。”《夏洛特的网》在我们的评论家投票中排名居首。美国国家公共广播电台的莫林-科里根写道：“如果要我放一本书到太空舱，发送到遥远的星系，唤醒复杂的生命，我会把怀特的这本有关友谊、失去、放弃和生死的杰作送上去。”作家兼评论家里戈韦托-冈萨雷斯写道：“这是第一本让我遇到超越差异的生死、遗赠、和爱的书。故事的精髓是一只蜘蛛和一头猪之间可敬的友谊，而我们从这本书中却有这么多收获。”

“The complex emotions that emerge from the barnyard in EB White’s masterpiece never cloy, but feel true and important,” writes novelist and critic Meg Wolitzer. “Who can forget the opening: Fern in her damp sneakers wrestling to save the life of the runt Wilbur?” asks Karen R Long, who manages the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. “Not just about loyalty and friendship, this perfect book is an introduction to metaphor – the barnyard as life,” says Chicago Tribune literary editor-at-large Elizabeth Taylor. Author and critic Joan Frank calls it “sturdy and deeply wise.” “White managed to write a children’s book that encompasses mortality, friendship, and the power of the written word — amazing”, adds critic Heller McAlpin. According to our poll, Charlotte’s Web is the greatest children’s book of all time. (Credit: Harper)
小说家兼评论家梅格-沃利策尔写道：“EB怀特这部杰作中所描写的仓院之中涌现出的复杂感情从不让人腻烦，而是让人感到真实和有价值。”安斯菲尔德• 沃尔夫图书奖负责人凯伦-R-朗问到：“谁能忘掉开篇：弗恩穿着潮湿的运动鞋跌跌撞撞地跑去救小猪威尔伯？”《芝加哥论坛报》文学特约编辑伊丽莎白•泰勒说：“不仅是忠诚和友谊，这本完美之作还引入了隐喻——生活就像谷场。”作家兼评论家琼•弗兰克称其“耐读、智慧深沉。”“怀特成功写出了一本包含生死、友谊和文字力量的儿童图书——太不可思议了，”评论家海勒•麦卡尔平补充说。我们的投票结果显示，《夏洛特的网》是有史以来最好的儿童读物。（来源：哈珀柯林斯出版社）