《极地特快 ／ Polar Express》

Links: The Polar Express (Book | Amazon) ; Polar Express (DVD | Amazon) ; 极地特快 (当当图书）

这个的故事大概不用多说了，就算没看过书，有Tom Hanks配音的动画片很多人也都看过了。书里的画很优美，中文的翻译也不错。

好玩的是我们看书时候的一个小插曲。书是儿子先自己翻过画然后我才给念的。念到一半，因为儿子的一个问题，我们翻回去对前面的情节。结果这一翻不得了，硬壳封面的底下居然有一张美丽的圣诞卡！

“这个怎么来的啊，妈妈？”
“我觉得是小矮人刚给咱们送来的。你觉得呢？”
“不是书里带来的吗？”
“那咱们刚才怎么没看到？你自己看的时候有么？我觉得小矮人是要给你一个惊喜。”
“真的吗，妈妈？”儿子问这个问题的时候眼睛亮亮的。“咱们把它送个Daddy当surprise好不好？”

－－－－－－－－－－

2012.01.16

这一两个星期，每天儿子都要让我给念一遍这本书，还让找英文原版的。结果英文的念完了，连儿子都说没有中文的好听。中文版念下来觉得图画和文字都很美。英文原版虽然整体上不错，但是遣词造句上感觉没有中文的那么精挑细选。当然也有可能是我英文没有中文念的好。不过我现在对给孩子看翻译的书更有信心了。

吹牛皮

还是那套中文版的《乔治和玛莎》。里边有个故事叫《吹牛皮》。儿子一听题目就问：“什么是吹牛皮啊？”我回答：“你听了就知道了。”

故事说的是乔治跟玛莎吹牛，说他以前是跳高冠军，当过凶恶的海盗，还做过有名的弄蛇人。玛莎听了，到另一个房间捧出一条巨蛇跟乔治说：“那这个就送给你吧。”乔治吓得一下就跳起来了。玛莎说：“还说自己当过弄蛇人呢。”乔治扒着房顶上的吊灯说：“我说我是跳高冠军可没有吹牛吧？”

小子听完乐得直不起腰来。过后一直说，乔治说他当过弄蛇的人其实他没当过就是吹牛了，但是他真的当过跳高冠军。过了几天去照圣诞的照片，儿子明显不在状态，摄影师让笑的时候就是不会笑。我突然想起这个故事，悄悄的又给他讲了，然后摄影师一说ready，我就伸个手指指天花板。后边的照片自然是效果非常好。

国外长大的孩子，想明白什么是“吹牛”真是不容易。不过，例子举好了，一个故事孩子就懂了嘛。

然后昨天早上，小子起的晚，我着急上班，爷爷奶奶就送他去幼儿园。到了吃晚饭的时候，儿子偷偷问我：“妈妈，你是九点到的公司么？”我说：“不是，九点之前就到了。”小子一听特高兴，对着桌子大喝一声：“你们，爷爷奶奶吹牛了。他们说妈妈九点到公司，妈妈说不是。爷爷奶奶就是吹牛了！！！”

哎，他到底是懂了还是没懂呢？

A Book Full of Hugs

links: Ten Little Fingers (Board Books for Babies

This is one of the first books that we read aloud. You may wonder why a sing-along book has something to do with hugs. Well, it's due to the way we "read" it. :)

First, I have to admit that I don't know how to sing that song, so we settled with just reading it, along with some hand movements of course. Here's how we read it:

I have ten little fingers, And they all belong to me, (waving my hands ...)
I can make them do things ... Would you like to see? (more waving ...)

I can shut them up tight ... (tight fists ...)
... or open them wide, (hands reaching out and wide open and actually touching my son's body ...)

I can put them together ... (clap clap ...)
or make them all hide. (hands hidden on the back)

I can make them jump high ... (hands up, reaching high ...)
... or make them go low, (hands down, touching my son's toes ...)

I can fold them quietly ... (fold hands and put them on my chest ...)
... and hold them just so. (put both hands on my son's lap)

I know I'm not a very creative person. All I did was just following the little babies in the pictures. The only thing special is probably me reaching out and touching my son along the way. After a few times, I could clearly see my son waiting for the open-wide's and the go-low's, when I would reach out and touch his arms or toes. When it was time for "I can make them hide", his whole body was all very tight during the long "I can~~~", and then when my hands actually went behind my back instead of reaching out to him, he would laugh and wave his tiny fists in the air as if saying: "I knew it." A couple of days later, he started to climb on to my laps each time I was about to reach out to him and he would hug me. Then he would crawl back to his sitting spot and wait for the next line, and climb, hug, crawl back ... It was only after a few such reading sessions when I realized that he wasn't trying to find the perfect sitting spot. He was reaching out, to me. Except that, each time, he had to make the whole effort of crawling, climbing, and hugging.

My son for sure had no clue what the book is about, but that didn't stop him from enjoying it. I could even say that it was a turning point for our "reading" experience. He began to come eagerly and wait for the pages to unfold when we introduced a new book. He rarely was impatient. Book reading became a highly enjoyable activity for him.

We bought more similar books later and we liked them all, but this little book was our favorite for quite a long time.

淡淡的思念－－－《獾的礼物》

Links: Badger's Parting Gifts (Amazon) ; 獾的礼物（当当图书）

獾很老了，老的快要跑不动了，老到它知道自己就要死了。它并不怕死，因为死不过就是离开了你的身体而已。“它只是担心他离去之后朋友们的感受”。一天晚上，獾做了一个梦。他梦见自己不用拄拐杖了。他可以轻轻松松的在长长的隧道里奔跑了。。。。。。第二天一早，狐狸报告了一个悲伤的消息，獾死了。狐狸读了獾留给大家的信：“我去下面的长隧道了，再见。獾。”

漫长的冬季来了，大雪盖住了乡村，却盖不住朋友们的悲伤。“獾说过希望他们别难过，但这真的很难。”春天快到了，朋友们开始串门。他们一起回忆他们的朋友。獾虽然死了，但是他教会了朋友们那么多的技艺。这些美好的记忆也慢慢的化解了朋友们的忧伤。“每当提到獾的名字，说起獾的又一个故事，大家都露出了微笑。一个温暖的春日，鼹鼠走到他最后一次看到獾的山坡上。。。。。。‘谢谢你，獾。’他轻轻地说，他相信獾能听到。”

很早以前就看过这本书的介绍，也早早就把它放在收藏夹里保存起来等着孩子长大，等他需要理解这个的时候给他讲。死亡的字眼对于一个五岁的孩子来说虽然一点也不陌生，但是却很遥远。儿子会把死的原因归结为太老了。他总是在跟我们求证是否人真的能活到百岁。这么关心的话题，他却从来没有问过死后的事情，也许是他的心智还没成熟到那个程度，也或许是人性本身会刻意回避。所以我们也是一直小心翼翼的维护着幼小心灵里的美好世界。等他长大，等他自己去思考体味。

但是一段时间以前的某场虚惊让我想明白了一件事情。子能成龙固然会让父母骄傲，我更希望的是他能快乐生活，有坎绊一下的时候能爬起来，坚强面对。就算我杞人忧天吧，我实在很担心这个孩子太过敏感。与其在事后试验他的能力，不如现在给他机会去听去想。