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picture book
Elevator, by Dawn, by Dan Santat, translated by Yang Di, Red Cloak CITIC Publishing Group, January 2022. Age of readability: 5+
This book is from the picture book set "It's Nice to Have a Book", and "Why?" that we have recommended before. Like ", it is difficult for readers to find because it is hidden in the suit. However, combining picture books created by some heavyweight authors into a set is a more common operation in the children's book industry.
"It's Nice to Have a Book" contains 10 picture books created by 13 award-winning authors.
"Elevator" is in a comic book style, with fantasy adventures in the content, but the starting point of the story is the sister's subtle antipathy to her brother, but this clue will not be clearly captured by the reader from the beginning. The first thing that attracts attention in the story is that the sister Alice likes to press the elevator button, but does not like her brother to press it. When the elevator broke, she took the changed button to her room and took it for herself, and entered the fantasy world after pressing the button.
Regarding the way to enter the fantasy world, we have seen a lot in the previous readings, but this book chooses the elevator button, which is very in line with the psychology of children who like to press the button when riding the elevator, and the author has played an imagination on this basis, and let the button also act as Alice's "stress reduction artifact" in the later story. So where does her "stress" come from? A great story layout will draw you back to the front page to look for details in the picture, and then understand the child's imperceptible heart.
The story was written by Minh Lê, who holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in educational policy, has written several picture book stories, served as a judge for the 2018 Boston Globe Book Awards, and was named one of America's "100 Coolest Dads" by Fately in 2018. The illustration was painted by 2015 Caldecott Gold Medal winner Dan Santat.
Another book they collaborated on, Drawn Together, was also critically acclaimed, also included in "It's Nice to Have a Book." The English title of "Reunion" can more directly express the meaning of the picture book, which tells the story of two people who are difficult to talk to because of language barriers, but find the most tacit way to communicate through working together on a painting. The book also uses a considerable number of elements of oriental culture.
Too much! Emily Griveet, illustrated by A, translated by Macmillan Twenty-first Century Publishing House Group, March 2022. Age of readability: 3+
This is the picture book that just entered the Kate Greenaway Award shortlist this year, and Emily Grivette's debut "Wolves" won the Greenaway Award in 2005 and "Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears" won the award again in 2008. Her work has also been shortlisted for the Grenadines Award several times.
Emily Grivette's picture books always feature animals, and the story is full of ups and downs and philosophical. This book is too much! Teacher A Jia commented on it as "Dr. Seuss's Broken House", it is about the magpie couple Ah Shi and Mei Mei are about to usher in the baby, so they search around for things for the baby, such as bicycles, clothespins, cuckoo wall clocks, strollers, light cannons, teddy bears, etc., they do look very useful, but when they are all searched, not only make the bird's nest crowded, but soon because it is too heavy and crushes the branches, the four bird eggs are not as good as where they went. The Magpie couple suddenly realized that this was because everything was too much... This book is also a wake-up call for parents who love excessive consumption in parenting.
Chinese edition is also available with another book by Emily Grivette, True Friends, which discusses what friendship is and shows the process of how to make friends. There are still ups and downs, and the end is the sublimation of philosophical reason.
Except for "Too Much! In addition to "True Friends", Emily Grevert also has Chinese versions of some works that have been introduced by Macmillan Century Children's Books, such as "Old Hat", "Little Mouse's Horror Big Book", "Little Mouse's Fear Big Book", "Love Neat Pippi", "Badger's Letter", "Badger's Christmas", "Strange Egg", "Do It Again", "Little Savage", "Rabbit's 12 Troubles", "Big Bad Wolf" and so on.
"Megalithic", "Jungle Dreams", "Sunflowers Chasing Light", by Liu Hao, Yutian Chenguang Publishing House, January 2022. Age of readability: 3+
This is a set of art popularization picture books from the young picture book author and oil painter Liu Hao. All three books are oil paintings, each associated with an artistic figure, hiding the work of a famous artist or the most important people and events in their lives. Liu Hao's previously widely watched "Parasol Camier" is also such a work.
Among the three newly published books, "Megalith" is the most storytelling, "Jungle Dream" is the most fantastical, and "Sunflower Chasing Light" is the most poetic. The Megalith is about how a stone went through a rough ride into Michelangelo's David statue. The protagonist of Jungle Dreams is the French post-impressionist painter Henri Rousseau, who is like a dreammaker, changing shapes in the jungle and exploring untold secrets. Two of Rousseau's most famous works are cleverly incorporated: "Dreams" and "Sleeping Gypsies". "Sunflowers Chasing The Light" uses Van Gogh's sunflowers as creative elements to express Liu Hao's understanding and love for Van Gogh.
In each of the guide manuals, Liu Hao wrote his original intentions. At the end of "The Author's Saying" of "Cong Meng QiMeng", he wrote: "Perhaps in each of our hearts, there is also a magical jungle, hiding our unbroken childlike hearts and secrets that only we know." ”
Inside page of Megalithic.
Inside page of Jungle Dreams.
The Great Book of Animal Portraits, by Xue Lan Jonakovic, translated by Zhang Yi, Magic Elephant Guangxi Normal University Press, January 2022. Age of readability: 3+
You may not know the people whose eyes or expressions are always complicated in the famous paintings, but if you replace the portraits in the famous paintings with animals such as ducks, lions, geese, frogs, etc., do you feel more intimate? Maybe you will also reminisce repeatedly, the original change of clothes for the duck, it can become like this!
That's the idea for this book. Svjetlan Junakovi carefully selected a number of works from the 15th-19th century portraits in Europe, and after repeatedly pondering which animal images (especially the eyes) were most suitable for the original, he replaced the portraits in the famous paintings, and restored the materials, colors, structures and atmospheres in the original as much as possible, and could almost "fake the real" when reading at first.
This idea is also related to Xue Lan's teaching experience, he has opened art workshops or is responsible for postgraduate projects in Rome, Milan and Spain, since 2010 he has taught courses such as illustration and graphic design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, and has also worked as a graduate tutor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Linz, Austria. Therefore, he decided to create this book, hoping that children would be interested in going to museums and art galleries to appreciate the original after reading it.
In 2010, Sheran Jonakovic was shortlisted for the International Hans Christian Andersen Award and has also held several solo exhibitions. The Big Book of Animal Portraits was nominated for a special prize in the fiction category at the Bologna International Children's Book Fair in 2008.
"Going outing: Our Journey of Natural Exploration", by Alison Farrell, translated by Nanfang, reviewed by Shi Jun, Fantasy Country: Twenty-first Century Publishing House Group, March 2022. Age of readability: 3+
This is a picture book on the theme of nature education, and three children go on an outing together. In addition to the beautiful views and cute little animals, there are two things that accompany them along the way: maps and sketchbooks. Because it's an "expedition" led by three little kids, when they get lost they look at a map, the plants and animals they encounter along the way, they record it in a sketchbook, and when they finally reach the top of the mountain, a sense of accomplishment and joy follows.
There are also many activities that organize children to go on a wild expedition, but how many children can be happy and free to complete this process alone?
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Humanistic history
"China Festival: Our Traditional Festival Stories" (16 volumes), by Xiang Hua, Illustrated by Picture Book Creation Studio of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Wenjing Shanghai People's Publishing House, January 2022. Age of readability: 5+
This is a set of original picture books created by Xiang Hua and illustrators from caucus picture book studio, based on folk tales from traditional culture. There are a total of 16 volumes, each of which introduces a traditional festival, including the seven traditional festivals of the Han people, important ancient festivals and ethnic minority festivals.
A total of 16 volumes.
The illustration styles of each book are different, some use the style of retro prints, some borrow the creativity of ukiyo-e, and some are created digitally, which is no less than a visual enjoyment for readers.
Previously, the new children's books have also recommended the "Chinese Animal Fables" series of picture books edited by Xiang Hua, created by capped picture book studio, and produced by magic elephants. Founded in 2004, caucus academy of fine arts picture book creation studio is committed to cultivating a young generation of picture book creation forces with writing and painting capabilities, and plays an important role in the development of China's original picture books.
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Popular science picture books
"Social Animals", [Polish] Joanna Rzezak, translated by Wei Lin, Langhua blossom Huashan Literary and Art Publishing House, February 2022. Age of readability: 3+
A common practice in popular animal picture books is to select the common characteristics of a group of animals to organize the content. Such as animals that run fast, animals with large bodies, animals that are about to become extinct, etc. The common feature adopted in this book is the "gregarious" nature of animals.
The authors selected 16 species of animals whose social purposes varied. Herring lives in groups to reduce the risk of being eaten, vipers live in groups to maintain body temperature, geese live in groups to make long-distance flights more labor-intensive, turtles live in groups to improve survival rates...
In order to show the momentum of social life, the book uses an 8-page slender folio, each page has very little text content, leaving a lot of space for illustration.
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Children's literature
Once Upon a Time: A Collection of Fairy Tales of Long Xiangmei, by Long Xiangmei, illustrated by MonicaLiaw, New Children Guangxi Normal University Press, March 2022. Age of readability: 7+
This is a set of stories created by Long Xiangmei, who won the Chen Bochui International Children's Literature Award, which contains five stories: "The Story of Nothing", "The Little Man Who Lives on the Roof", "The Crumpled City", "Grow a Cherry Tree for You", and "The Elf Who Stayed behind in the world". From the title of the book, you can see the fantasy color they have, the text is also flowing, simple and fresh, as if you can't see what story framework the author has, but in fact, the story is very wonderful, telling the discovery and search in growth, parting and reunion, protection and love.
Long Xiangmei also explains why he created these stories in the creative notes of each book, allowing us to see more clearly how fantasy stories grow out of the details of daily life.
The cover caption is from the picture book "Elevator".
Editor| Shen Chan
Proofreading | Jia Ning