BBC:最伟大的11部儿童书籍
(本文根据BBC Culture的Jane Ciabatary的文章《The 11 greatest children’s books》翻译而来。)
图片发自bbc.com对孩子来说,什么是经典?哪些又是最伟大的儿童书籍?《BBC文化》的Jane Ciabattari征询了全球数十位书评家,其中包括《NPR》的Maureen Corrigan、《Sunday times》的童书编辑Nicolette Jones,《波斯顿环球》的Nicole Lamy、《时代》杂志的图书编辑Lev Grossman、新《牛津儿童文学手册》作者Daniel Hahn以及常驻贝鲁特的书评家Rayyan Al-Shawaf。我们邀请他们列出迄今出版过的最好的英文儿童书籍(适合十岁以下儿童),得到了151个书名。其中一些选择可能会出乎你的意料,另有一些你可能认为有夺冠实力的书甚至都没有进入前20名。(完整的亚军书单可移步至我们的Twitter feed@BBC_Culture)。下面列出的书名在在那些书评家开出的书单里反复出现,也必将在随后的岁月里持续激励更多的孩子们。(来自:Getty Images)
How to define a classic for kids? What are the greatest children’s books ever? In search of a collective critical assessment, BBC Culture’s Jane Ciabattari polled dozens of critics around the world, including NPR’s Maureen Corrigan; Nicolette Jones, children’s books editor of the Sunday Times; Nicole Lamy of the Boston Globe; Time magazine's books editor Lev Grossman; Daniel Hahn, author of the new Oxford Companion to Children's Literature; and Beirut-based critic Rayyan Al-Shawaf. We asked each to name the best children’s books (for ages 10 and under) ever published in English. The critics named 151. Some of the choices may surprise you. A few books you might think would be contenders to top the poll didn’t even make the top 20. (For a full list of the runners-up visit our Twitter feed @BBC_Culture.) The titles that follow appeared over and again from the critics we polled and will continue to inspire children for many years to come. (Credit: Getty Images)图片发自bbc.com
11. 萝拉·英格斯·怀德(Laura Ingalls Wilder)-《草原上的小木屋》(1935)。
怀德九部经典拓荒小说的灵感都源自她十九世纪的童年生活。生长于一个拓荒家庭,乘坐有蓬马车横穿中西部,怀德写了一个和父母,两个姐妹,以及一条名叫Jack的狗住在“威斯康星州的大森林里一个圆木搭成的小灰屋”里的小女孩的真实的细节。“一个人向北走一天、一周、甚至一个月那么远,只会看到森林,没有房子,什么都没有。”对后人来说,怀德的描述使拓荒地区的日常生活跃然纸上。(来自:Harper)
11. Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie (1935)。 Wilder’s nine classic frontier novels were inspired by her own 19th Century childhood. She was raised in a pioneer family, and traveled through the Midwest by covered wagon. Wilder writes with authentic detail of a little girl living “in the Big Woods of Wisconsin, in a little gray house made of logs" with her parents, two sisters and their dog, Jack. "As far as a man could go to the north in a day, or a week, or a whole month, there was nothing but woods. There were no houses.” Wilder’s accounts have made daily life on the frontier vivid for generations. (Credit: Harper)图片发自bbc.com
10. 马德莲·英格(Madeleine L'Engle)-《时间的皱纹》(1962)。
梅格·莫瑞的父亲,一位时间旅行的物理学家,消失了。一天晚上,她、她早熟的弟弟查尔斯·华莱士和她那位“即是科学家也是一个美人”的妈妈接待了一个不速之客。“那些疯狂的夜晚就是我的荣耀,”这位陌生的华特希特夫人告诉她们,“我只是被喷离轨道了而已。” 她指的是四次元立方体—一个可以在其中进行时空旅行的五维空间。梅格和弟弟及高中好友卡尔文一道出发横穿宇宙去寻找父亲。她们和IT,一个给宇宙蒙上阴影的无实体的遵奉者智能(有看过原著的可以私信我这是什么意思吗?)的对抗,触发了一场黑色的冷战。英格这部赢得纽伯瑞奖的作品是对写给年轻读者的科幻小说的初涉,部分灵感来自爱因斯坦的《相对论》。梅格这个形象第一次现身于文学作品:一个智商和她对家人的爱一样高的书呆子女孩。(来自:Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
10. Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle In Time (1962)。 Meg Murry’s father, a time traveling physicist, has disappeared. One night she, her precocious younger brother Charles Wallace and her mother – “a scientist and a beauty as well” – have an unexpected visitor. "Wild nights are my glory," the strange Mrs Whatsit tells them. "I just got blown off course.” She refers to a tesseract, a fifth dimension that allows travel through time and space. With her brother and a high school friend, Calvin, Meg sets out across the universe to find her father. Their confrontation with IT, the disembodied conformist intelligence that casts a shadow over the universe, is a noirish Cold War touch. L’Engle’s Newbery Award-winning book was an early foray into science fiction for younger readers, inspired in part by Einstein’s theory of relativity. Meg was a first in literature: a nerdy girl whose intelligence was matched by her powerful love for her family. (Credit: Farrar, Straus & Giroux)图片发自bbc.com
9. 娥苏拉·勒瑰恩(Ursula K. Le Guin)-《地海巫师》(1968)。
一个人称雀鹰的男孩用他从身为当地女巫的阿姨那里学来的粗浅的巫术拯救了自己的村子。他后来拜魔法师沉默者欧吉安为师,并更名为格德,开始了自己通向魔法师之路的训练。勒瑰恩探究了格德在魔法学校失败和诱惑的影响,他和巨龙及心魔的斗争,他的探究重塑了魔幻作品中善与恶的叙事概念。在迎接各种挑战中,格德渐渐积累了智慧。他最终认识到—尽管这种认识来之不易—他的使命不是取消他所做的一切,而是完成最初的目标。”。作家及《新政治家周刊》和《每日电讯报》的书评家阿曼达·克雷格说,“对我来说,勒瑰恩的故事是关于学习作为一个作家的技巧,为掌控自己和你的艺术而作出的长久而痛苦的努力,这些都写进了这部令人惊讶的散文中。”(来自:Parnassus Press)
9. Ursula K Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea (1968)。 A young boy known as Sparrowhawk saves his village with a smattering of magic he learned from his aunt, a local witch. Apprenticed to the mage Ogion the Silent, and renamed Ged, he begins his training as a sorcerer. Le Guin’s exploration of the consequences of Ged’s misfires and temptations while at a school for wizards, his struggles with dragons and his inner demons, reshaped fantasy storytelling’s concepts of good and evil. Gradually, Ged gains wisdom as he faces his challenges. "He knew now, and the knowledge was hard, that his task had never been to undo what he had done, but to finish what he had begun." "To me Le Guin’s story is about learning your craft as a writer, the long and painful struggle for mastery of both your art and yourself, written in astounding prose," says Amanda Craig, author and reviewer for the New Statesman and the Daily Telegraph. (Credit: Parnassus Press)图片发自bbc.com
8. 罗尔德·达尔(Roald Dahl)-《查理和巧克力工厂》(1964)
这次的书单里共提名了罗尔德·达尔的五部童书—是所有作者中提名最多的。诗人、书评家泰斯·泰勒称他的作品“欢乐、有趣、惊悚、人道主义而且有魔力”。《纽约时报》专栏作家Carmela Ciuraru说,“只选出一部最喜欢的达尔的作品似无可能,说他是有史以来最伟大的童书作家或有争议,但这部1964年的经典作品的确是他最欢乐、最有想象力也最淘气的一部。”达尔最为人喜爱的是查理·布奇特、他的爷爷乔、欧巴伦巴人以及五张带查理进入威利·旺卡的工厂的黄金门票的故事。“世所仅见的最令人惊奇、最异想天开、最不同寻常的巧克力制作者!”“某件疯狂的事情马上就要发生了,查理想。但他并不害怕,甚至都没感到一点紧张,他只感到很兴奋。”(来自:Penguin Books)
8. Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)。 The critics’ poll nominated five of Roald Dahl’s children’s books – the most by any author. Poet and book critic Tess Taylor calls his work “rollicking, funny, scary, humane and magical.” New York Times columnist Carmela Ciuraru says, “It seems impossible to choose just one favourite by Dahl, arguably the greatest children's book author of all time, but he is at his most delightful, imaginative and mischievous in this 1964 classic.” Dahl’s most popular among the five nominated is the story of Charlie Bucket, his Grandpa Joe, the Oompa-Loompas and the five golden tickets that take Charlie inside the factory of Willy Wonka, “the most amazing, the most fantastic, the most extraordinary chocolate maker the world has ever seen!” “Something crazy is going to happen now, Charlie thought. But he wasn’t frightened. He wasn’t even nervous. He was just terrifically excited.” (Credit: Penguin Books)图片发自bbc.com
7. AA米尔恩-《小熊维尼》(1926)。
米尔恩用自己儿子克里斯多佛·罗宾、儿子最爱抱的泰迪熊、毛绒玩具小猪佩奇、跳跳虎、屹耳驴等命名了自己的经典童书里的角色。克里斯多佛和维尼在很像米尔恩在苏克塞斯东部家乡森林的百亩森林漫游。他的第一次历险就爬到了树上,嘴里哼着小曲,“熊竟如此爱蜂蜜,真呀真稀奇.....”。冒险还在继续,一位父亲把自己的儿子和儿子的世界安插在每一个新的曲折情节里并用甜美优雅的语气娓娓道来。身为剧作家和《Punch》的捐助人,米尔恩将作为这部适合幼儿园朗读的完美故事的创作者而永远被人们铭记。(来自:Dutton Books)
7. AA Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)。 Milne named the characters in his classic children’s book after his own son Christopher Robin, his cuddly teddy bear, his stuffed animals Piglet, Tigger, the donkey Eeyore and others. Christopher and Pooh wander through the Hundred Acre Wood not unlike the forest near Milne’s home in East Sussex. His first adventure sends him up a tree buzzing with bees, singing a little song to himself: “Isn’t it funny how a bear likes honey…” And the adventures continue, narrated with sweet grace by a father who includes his son and his son’s world in every new plot twist. A playwright and contributor to Punch, Milne will be forever known as the creator of the perfect read-aloud nursery tale. (Credit: Dutton Books)图片发自bbc.com
6. 安托万·德·圣·埃克苏佩里(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)-《小王子》(1943)
这部由一位在1944年和自己的飞机一起失踪的飞行员写作并亲手绘制插图的寓言,把生命的意义浓缩在一个坠落在撒哈拉沙漠里的飞行员和一个来自异星的小王子相遇的故事里。“只有用你的心你才能清晰地看见,”圣·埃克苏佩里在其中一篇生命课程启蒙里写道,“本质的东西仅靠眼睛是看不见的。”
“儿时觉得这个离乡的故事带来了对小王子敞开的那个世界的希望和冀盼,”《Shelf Awareness》的儿童编辑詹妮佛·M·布朗说道,“当我们在生命里稍后的时点重拾此书,我们会从飞行员的视角体验这个故事,更感悲伤却也愈加丰富,并为我们并非生命旅途中的独行者而深受鼓舞。”(来自:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
6. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince (1943)。 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.”图片发自bbc.com
“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)
5. 路易莎·梅·奥尔科特(Louisa May Alcott) -《小妇人》(1868)。
马奇四姐妹从纯真的童年走向成熟的故事持续了若干代,未曾稍减其迷人的力量。清新写实的对话,经久不衰的人物以及对家庭动态的敏锐洞察,使得这本书快速流传开来。“梅格是艾美的知己和监护人,由于某种奇怪的互补性吸引,乔和温柔的贝斯亦如是,”奥尔科特写道。(乔是书中最像作者的人物)“一个名字就足以道尽我对《小妇人》的喜爱:乔·马奇!”书单的高级编辑多纳·希曼说,“哪个爱书的小读者不崇拜路易莎·梅·奥尔科特笔下勇敢的、浓墨重彩的英雄?当然奥尔科特本人也是位才华横溢,扣人心弦的叙述者,观点犀利明晰。小说的结构如此精巧,禁得起一读再读。”(来自:Transatlantic Press)
5. Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868)。 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. “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)图片发自bbc.com
4. 刘易斯·卡罗尔(Lewis Carroll)-《爱丽丝漫游仙境》(1865)。
“爱丽丝正感到有点儿倦了,这样地和姐姐坐在河边,没有什么事可做。她也偷看了一两眼姐姐正在看的书,可是上面没有图片,也没有对话。‘没有图片,又没有对话,’爱丽丝心想,‘这样的书又有什么用处呢?’突然,一只眼睛红红的白色兔子从她身边跑了过去。” 查尔斯·道奇森以刘易斯·卡罗尔这个笔名写的这部维多利亚风格的奇幻小说,一经出版,立刻引起轰动。直至今日,爱丽丝掉进兔子洞,遇到柴郡猫、白兔子、红心女王和疯帽子等人的奇幻之旅仍是激发文学想象力的新鲜素材。爱丽丝现在依然是出版界的宠儿,各种版本及改编层出不穷。“爱丽丝永远是我的最爱,我爱她的好奇心和勇敢。”《图书馆》杂志专栏记者芭芭拉·霍夫特说道。(来自:Macmillan)
4. Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865)。 “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.” 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)图片发自bbc.com
3. 莫里斯·桑达克(Maurice Bernard Sendak)-《野兽国》(1963)
在桑达克获凯迪克奖的这部图画书中,年幼的麦克斯在没吃完饭就被母亲打发上床睡觉时,会逃遁到自己的想象世界—野兽国里。“它准确、感人、意味深长地叙述了一个学习如何控制自己情绪的孩子的故事,这恰恰是所有孩子需要学会的重要一课。”《时代》杂志书评家莱夫·格罗斯曼写道。“这是一本面面俱到的书:美丽、丰富、出人意表的文字,配以美丽、丰富、出人意表的叙述,”新《牛津儿童文学手册》作者丹尼尔·罕说道,“但不止于此,综合文字、图画、页面设计来讲述故事的方式才是既最简洁又充满了心理的洞察、智慧和真实。这是一部近乎完美的书。”(来自:Harper)
3. Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are (1963) In Sendak’s Caldecott Medal-winning picture book young Max, sent to bed without , 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)图片发自bbc.com
2. CS.刘易斯(CS Lewis)-《狮子、女巫和魔衣橱)(1950)
刘易斯的超级奇幻经典在我们的评论家的书单投票里赢得了超高的赞誉。“CS刘易斯的完美寓言《狮子、女巫和魔衣橱》副标题是‘一部给孩子看的故事’,”作家、书评家大卫·阿伯拉姆说,“但这部纳尼亚的年代记却是老少咸宜的故事。你可以把它们当成基督教寓言来读,也可以视它们为四个孩子的魔幻寓言,他们误入一个魔法衣橱,挤过那些散发着樟脑丸味道的皮衣,进入了一个有半羊人(农牧神)、街灯柱和一个白肤黑心像分发致命海洛因一样分发土耳其糖果的女王的冰雪王国。”
“这个迷人的故事溶入了令人不安的魔法、心里现实主义和深度的美,”作家工会主席、评论家露仙娜·罗宾逊这样注解,“刘易斯把这个实体世界描述得太棒了!这本读起来既令人兴奋又熨贴暖心的书睿智、优美、充满同情心。”(来自:Geoffrey Bles)
2. CS Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950) 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.”图片发自bbc.com
“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)
1. 埃尔文·布鲁克斯·怀特(E·B·white)-《夏洛的网》(1952)。
“一天,我在走去喂猪的途中突然开始感到对它的同情,因为像别的猪一样,死亡是它的宿命,”怀特这样写道。《夏洛的网》在我们收到的投票里雄冠榜首。“如果要我把一本书放在太空船里送到遥远的星系以全面地唤醒生命,我会选怀特这本关于友谊、迷惘、放弃和死亡宿命的巨著,”NPR的莫琳·考利根注释道。“我在本书中首次读到关于死亡的命运、遗产和超越物种差异的爱,”作家、书评家里格贝托·冈萨雷斯写道,“这是这本核心实为一只蜘蛛和一只猪的可敬友谊的书要教会我们的最重要的东西。”
“发生在谷仓前的空地上的这段复杂感情在E·B·怀特的著作中并不令人生厌,反而让人觉得真实而重要,”小说家、书评家梅格·沃力兹写道。“谁能忘得了开头:穿着湿运动鞋的弗恩扭着身子去救小猪威尔伯?”安妮斯菲尔德-伍尔夫图书奖的管理人凯伦·R·珑如此询问。“这本完美的书并不单纯讲忠诚和友谊,它还是一个隐喻的入门—谷仓隐喻着我们的生活。”《芝加哥论坛报》文学总编伊丽莎白·泰勒说。作家、书评家琼·弗兰克称这本书“坚毅有很深的智慧”。评论家海勒·麦克艾尔平补充说,“怀特成功地写了一本包含了死亡的宿命、友谊以及书面文字令人惊叹的魔力的儿童书。”根据我们的投票,《夏洛的网》是所有时代最伟大的儿童书籍。(来自:Harper)
1. EB White, Charlotte’s Web (1952)。 “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.” “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)
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