#Book Review#A picture book with more charm than story 丨 "Song Dingbo Sells Ghosts"

China's picture book stories started late, and even now there are more "imported products", and there are even fewer original picture book stories in China. In fact, Chinese culture is broad and profound, and excavating The material of China's original picture book story from China's excellent traditional cultural stories should be a sunny road for China's original picture books to be feasible. When I read the original Chinese picture book "Song Dingbo Selling Ghosts" written by teacher Li Yiwan and drawn by Teacher Zheng Kaijun and Qian Jiwei, I was greeted by a "Chinese style" that made people feel "very intimate".

The story of the picture book "Song Dingbo Selling Ghosts" is based on the "Search for God" written by the Eastern Jin Dynasty historian Gan Bao, which is a collection of novels that record the magical and strange stories of ancient folklore. The storyline is believed that Chinese are very familiar, and the Chinese people should have learned the literary text "Song Dingbo Catching Ghosts" when they were in school, which mainly tells the story of the protagonist "Song Dingbo" and a "ghost" fighting wits and courage, and finally conquering the "ghost" with human wisdom and courage.

I was very impressed with this story. In fact, when I was very young, I was quite bold. When I was young, there was no TV, computer, mobile phone, etc., and after eating at night, I put down the bowl and went to find my friends to play, often playing until it was dark before going home. The so-called "newborn calves are not afraid of tigers", and they are not afraid to walk the streets and alleys on the big black day. However, after growing up, perhaps after watching ghost movies such as "Liaozhai", the courage is smaller, and when walking at night, you often feel that there is something behind you, or worry that something terrible will suddenly appear in front of you, and the most important thing about this "terrible thing" is "ghost". Later, after learning the text of "Song Dingbo Catching Ghosts", I was much bolder, thinking that if a ghost really appeared, I could also subdue it like Song Dingbo. When you grow up a little longer, you are not afraid of "ghosts", because you are sure from the bottom of your heart that there are no demons and ghosts in the world. However, there is still worry, because the most terrible thing in the world is people like "ghosts". After becoming an adult, I also slowly realized that people like "ghosts" are not terrible, and when I meet such people, I can also subdue him like "Song Dingbo". As long as you have wisdom and courage, there is nothing terrible. Now I relive this story through the picture book "Song Dingbo Selling Ghosts", but I find that after having some experiences and experiences, the story is still very intriguing. What remains unchanged is "Song Dingbo", and "ghosts" can represent all hateful forces, they are hateful and not terrible, as long as they have wisdom and courage.

The stories were originally called "Song Dingbo Catching Ghosts", but this story was named "Song Dingbo Selling Ghosts", "Catching" became "Selling", what is the author's intention? In my opinion, for the storyline itself, "selling" is more appropriate than "catching". First, "selling" is the final ending of the story, which is more deductible than "catching"; second, "selling" is more able to reflect the wisdom of "Song Dingbo" than "catching", who not only conquered the evil forces, but also turned the garbage-like evil forces into value, which is more in line with the concept value of contemporary people. Of course, in the new way of telling old stories in the new way of "China's original picture books", "selling" is more innovative than "catching" in terms of title.

Where is the "new"?

Don't think this is a "new picture book" that tells old stories and has nothing to read! When I read this picture book of "Song Dingbo Selling Ghosts", I felt the unique language and painting style. In particular, the language of this picture book is, in my opinion, more attractive and expressive than the story itself.

I appreciate the language style of this picture book, it is very suitable for reading out loud, the language of this picture book story written by teacher Li Yi slowly in addition to having the concise and vivid characteristics of all picture book languages, the biggest feature is that it is very rhythmic. When I was reading, I actually read it and read it in the way of "Tianjin Allegro". This kind of language mode of living alone in the rhythm style of "Tianjin Allegro" is second to none among the Chinese and foreign picture books I have read, "Song Dingbo Selling Ghosts".

For example, in the first sentence of the opening chapter: "According to legend, there was a young man in the Jin Dynasty named Song Dingbo, who was bold and had a heart and eyes", I thought about holding an allegro in my hand, playing it again and again, saying again: "//////,/,/,/"-This sentence, I read it according to this rhythm, drawing a horizontal line to hit the bamboo board. The next language in the text until the end of the story can also be read in the form of "Tianjin Allegro". It is difficult for me to express in words the pleasure of reading it under the title of "Tianjin Allegro", but anyone who has an impression of "Tianjin Allegro", as long as you read this picture book at that pace, will find that this way is several times more fun than just looking at the story with your eyes. The main reading object of the picture book story is still children, and I seem to have imagined that I took an Allegro and told the children this story in class like an "Allegro Storyteller"; I also seemed to imagine that the children were divided into roles and were performing the story with the Allegro... It's a lot of fun.

The language of the story is very vivid, and it feels like you are immersed in the scene when you read it. For example, the description of the appearance of the "ghost": "This guy's face is blue and white, there is no trace of blood, two eyes 'protrude' so green and fire, and open his mouth and spit out his tongue, two fangs like sharp knives, one stab on one side." After reading it, it is good to really see that terrible "ghost", if you say it according to the rhythm of "Tianjin Allegro", plus the pictures in the picture book, it is really "living to see the ghost"! Of course, don't think this is a "horror picture book", because only in the previous article have you experienced how "terrible" the "ghost" is, and the more you read it to the end, the more deeply you can feel how great the "Song Dingbo" with wisdom and courage is! However, when we read to children, we must not scare children.

The style of this picture book is typical of Chinese painting, I know very little about painting, but I can still feel the strong "ancient Chinese style". I looked it up on the Internet and called it a "picture book", is it a watercolor painting? The tones of the paintings throughout the book are dark purple, fuchsia, gray-black, and indigo that give people a strange feeling (my expression is not necessarily accurate), and at the end of the story, after Song Dingbo conquers the ghosts, he uses bright yellow tones to blend the freehand of classical painting with the exaggerated humor of modern comics. This kind of color illustration makes the story more eye-catching and heartfelt.

The scene that impressed me deeply was the first picture of Song Dingbo resting in the cemetery, floating in the sky with a "ghost" with teeth and claws and an abominable face, and it felt chilling to think about it when I closed my eyes. Another is the scene of Song Dingbo using a rope to set the ghost, the whole picture is "explosive suit", giving people a vivid sense of pain and happiness - this hateful ghost has finally been cleaned up! Then there is the scene of Song Dingbo selling ghosts into sheep in the market and the scene of Song Dingbo meeting with his uncle "LeHehe", after experiencing a series of previous "thrilling" and "wisdom fighting" pictures, you can see the last picture, which makes people feel happy and relieved.

In the whole book, the black cat in the corner of the room, the entangled rattan, the staggered stone wall, the owl with closed eyes, the mouse with white hair and red eyes on the ground, the bat flying in the sky... Intensely render this terrifying "ghost fighting" night.

The paintings in this picture book also embody a major Chinese characteristic , Chinese character culture. At the last market where Song Dingbo sold ghosts, the words on the signs of those shops almost contained various fonts of Chinese characters from ancient times to the present; on the last painting, the couplet at the door of Uncle Song Dingbo's house was actually hieroglyphic characters, and I did not recognize a few words. If I tell this story to the children, if the children ask me what the word is and can't say it, it's a big mess! The "Chinese character culture" in this picture book painting should be regarded as a great benefit for the editor in addition to the picture book itself, so that people can read the picture book and remember that they still have unsolved things.

The storyline of the picture book "Song Dingbo Selling Ghosts" is full of positive energy, and the language and paintings highlight the infinite charm of unique traditional Chinese cultural characteristics. Chinese reading China's excellent original picture books that highlight the characteristics of traditional Chinese culture, I feel not only a pleasant reading experience, but also a sense of national pride and cultural self-confidence Chinese.