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适读人群 :4-8岁 哈佛大学教育学博士朱莉向您推荐“I Can Read!系列”: 内容简介
The Bear family is visiting Farmer Ben today. Brother and Sister have so many questions about how the farm works, and Farmer Ben has a lot to teach them. They never knew hard work could be so much fun
作者简介
Stanley "Stan" Berenstain (September 29, 1923 – November 26, 2005) was born in a neighborhood of west Philadelphia and died of cancer in Solebury Township, Pennsylvania. Janice "Jan" Berenstain (née Grant) (born July 26, 1923) was born in Philadelphia and was raised in west Philadelphia and attended Radnor High School. They met on their first day of class at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art in 1941 and married five years later, on April 13, 1946. They had two sons, Leo and Mike.
In an interview about the books, the Berenstains said that a big reason behind their inspiration was some of the difficulties parents faced, as well as some childhood tribulations when they were kids themselves. Their books evolved to include items such as cell phones and video game systems in the fictional Bear Country, which were nonexistent or very limited when the books were first commissioned. The Berenstains also noted there were some issues which seemed to appear in every generation, such as kids throwing tantrums in public places, which made important subject matter for their stories. However, they deliberately wanted to steer clear of overly heavy issues such as violence.
In 1951, they published Berenstains' Baby Book, which dealt with the topics of pregnancy and raising a young child. Although containing practical advice, the book used humor and reminded parents not to take every situation too seriously.
They produced together the magazine cartoon feature It's All in the Family from 1956 to 1989 in McCall's and Good Housekeeping. They published their first book featuring the Berenstain Bears in 1962 and with the help of then-head of children's publishing at Random House Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) created a lasting franchise including many more books, television series, toys, and stage productions. Jan was inducted into Radnor High School's Hall of Fame on October 20, 2006.
The Berenstains' comic strip It's All in the Family (unrelated to the similarly named TV series) appeared regularly in McCall's magazine and depicted the antics of a suburban family with mother, father, eldest and youngest sons, and middle daughter. It's All in the Family was not a conventional comic strip in the sense of a sequential progression of panels. Each issue featured a single situation, often seasonally appropriate, such as the daughter preparing, cooking, and serving a family meal for the first time or the costume preparations, rehearsal, and performance of the youngest child's Christmas pageant. Within a given issue, each It's All in the Family drawing was a stand-alone panel with a caption gag, rather than one panel of a sequential strip, but individual panels in order depicted the complete arc (preparation, completion, aftermath) of that issue's family experience.
Stan and Jan Berenstain's younger son Michael Berenstain (born in 1951) is a writer/illustrator and also illustrated many of the books written by his parents. He continues to work with his mother on new projects
精彩书评
"This book, one from the "I Can Read" series, is designed with "short sentences, familiar words, and simple concepts for children eager to read on their own." Although it is labeled as "1—Beginning Reading," it is actually the second level offered in this series, a concept sure to confuse adults attempting to choose appropriate books for new readers. In rhyming text that scans poorly, the Bear family visits the farm of Ben and Mrs. Ben, and observe typical farming activities, such as feeding and caring for the livestock, weeding, fertilizing, and milking "the old-fashioned way." Beginning readers may have some trouble trying to read on their own when they encounter words like "fertilizer," "old-fashioned," "question," and "machine." Typical Berenstain color illustrations accompany the text. At times visual clues may help readers with new vocabulary, but this book is probably too challenging a read for the level it is advertised as being. Relabeled to a more appropriate level, it would make a reasonable addition to early reader collections."
--Children's Literature
前言/序言
《星际探险家:欧米茄号的秘密航程》 作者:艾莉森·雷德菲尔德 出版社:银河之光出版社 页数:320页 装帧:精装 目标读者:10-14岁(中高年级) --- 故事背景与世界观构建 《星际探险家:欧米茄号的秘密航程》将读者带入一个广袤、充满未知与奇迹的未来宇宙。故事设定在公元2742年,人类文明已不再局限于地球,而是建立了庞大的星际联盟。这个宇宙中,科技的进步达到了令人难以置信的程度,反重力驱动、量子通讯以及能够瞬间解析未知语言的AI助手成为了星际旅行的标配。然而,在文明的辉煌之下,隐藏着古老的谜团和从未被解开的宇宙法则。 本篇故事的中心舞台是“欧米茄号”,一艘隶属于星际考古与探险局(SAEA)的旗舰级科考船。它并非用于军事或贸易,而是专注于搜寻失落文明的遗迹和探索宇宙中尚未被标记的星域。船上配备了最先进的生物扫描仪和时间流观测仪,其使命是绘制宇宙的“真实地图”,而非仅仅是殖民扩张。 宇宙被划分为多个扇区,其中最为神秘的是“寂静之环”(The Silent Ring)——一片被认为违反了已知的物理定律,充斥着奇异能量场和时间错乱现象的区域。大多数势力都避开此地,认为那里是宇宙的“故障点”。 核心人物介绍 1. 凯伦·维斯珀 (Kaelen Vesper): 14岁,故事的主角。凯伦并非传统意义上的宇航员或科学家,她是一名天才级的“遗迹密码学家”,拥有罕见的直觉和对古代语言的惊人理解力。她的父母是著名的时空物理学家,在一场探索寂静之环的意外中失踪,留给她唯一的线索是一枚刻有复杂符号的金属圆盘。凯伦的性格冷静、坚韧,但内心深处被对亲人的思念和解开谜团的渴望驱动。 2. 泽恩 (Zane): 欧米茄号的首席AI,一个以全息影像形式出现的、形态模糊的蓝色光球。泽恩拥有近乎无限的知识储备,但它被编程设定为“有限干预原则”,除非生命受到直接威胁,否则它不能直接给出答案,只能提供线索和计算支持。它常常以略带讽刺的口吻与凯伦对话,是凯伦在理性上的重要伙伴。 3. 舰长亚历克修斯·索恩 (Captain Alexius Thorne): 一位资深探险家,经历过多次星际冲突和未知的考验。索恩舰长以其果断和对船员安全的极度负责而闻名。他表面上对凯伦的“私人任务”持怀疑态度,但钦佩她的能力,并在行动中给予了必要的掩护和支持。他背负着一个不为人知的过去,与失踪的凯伦父母有所牵连。 4. 莉拉·莫斯 (Lyra Moss): 欧米茄号的生物学家和生态工程师。莉拉是一位热情洋溢、充满好奇心的角色,她擅长与各种外星生命形式沟通,即使这些生命形式是通过化学信号或能量振动进行交流。她是凯伦在情感上的支柱,确保凯伦在孤独的追寻中保持人性。 故事开端:被激活的信标 故事始于一次例行的深空扫描任务。欧米茄号正在对一个被称为“遗忘星云”的边缘区域进行测绘。凯伦正独自在船舱内研究那枚属于她父母的金属圆盘。突然,圆盘发出微弱的共振,并向泽恩的系统发送了一串数据流——那是一组从未被任何已知文明记录过的坐标,指向寂静之环的深处。 泽恩分析后确认,这些坐标指向的信号源,与二十年前失踪的凯伦父母的最后定位信号高度吻合。尽管寂静之环是所有星际航行指南上的禁区,凯伦说服了索恩舰长,以“追寻重要历史遗迹”的名义,将欧米茄号的航线偏转至此。 旅程与挑战 第一阶段:穿越能量迷宫 欧米茄号进入寂静之环外围。这里的空间结构极不稳定,传统导航系统完全失灵。飞船必须依靠凯伦对古代符号的解读能力,来“预测”和“导航”通过由不稳定引力波和时间涟漪构成的能量迷宫。 他们遭遇了第一次重创:一个“时间回响区”。船上的感应器显示,他们刚刚经过的区域,实际上是三周后的他们自己经过的路径。凯伦必须利用她对“非线性时间”的理论知识,引导飞船避开那些尚未发生的危险。莉拉则发现,环绕飞船的能量场并非随机,而是一种古老文明留下的“防御系统”,类似于复杂的数学谜题。 第二阶段:克洛诺斯遗迹的发现 在克服了导航难题后,欧米茄号抵达了信号源——一颗被奇异的紫色星云包裹的废弃行星。这颗行星被称为“克洛诺斯”(Kronos),是传说中“先行者”(The Precursors)文明的最后据点。 遗迹的主体是一座巨大的、由晶体结构构成的城市,城市内部的能源系统仍然在以极慢的速度运转。凯伦发现,这里的文字是一种混合了声波、光信号和磁场波动的复杂语言。在解读核心祭坛的铭文时,她发现了一个令人震惊的事实:先行者文明并非像历史记载的那样自然衰亡,而是主动选择了“超脱”——他们试图将整个文明的意识上传到一个更高维度的存在中。 第三阶段:竞争者与阴谋 当凯伦即将破译先行者离开的最终指令时,欧米茄号被一股武装力量拦截。这不是星际联盟的船只,而是一艘由“暗影贸易集团”(Shadow Cartel)控制的掠夺船“复仇之镰”。暗影集团一直在追寻先行者的技术,他们相信先行者的技术能提供近乎无限的能源或武器。 集团的领导者,一个名叫“蝰蛇”的冷酷走私贩,闯入了遗迹。他胁迫凯伦交出她破译的全部数据。在紧张的对峙中,索恩舰长展现了他非凡的战术能力,利用遗迹中不稳定的能量场制造了混乱。 凯伦趁乱进入了遗迹的核心——一个被保护在扭曲空间中的中枢。在这里,她找到了她父母留下的最后讯息。 终极揭秘与抉择 在核心中枢,凯伦发现父母并没有死亡。他们发现了先行者留下的“超脱”计划的缺陷:上传意识并非永恒,而是需要一个“锚点”——一个强大的、新鲜的、未被污染的意识来维持链接。他们的失踪,是为了阻止暗影集团利用先行者的技术来奴役或摧毁其他文明。 凯伦的父母正在一个被时间暂停的“缓冲层”中,试图修复系统的漏洞。他们留下的最终信息是:破解最后的“稳定符文”,否则整个寂静之环的能量将失控,并吞噬周围的星系。 蝰蛇紧追不舍,他想要的是启动整个系统,控制先行者的力量。 在最后的对决中,凯伦必须做出选择:是利用她解读出的知识去营救父母,还是为了整个宇宙的安全,遵循先行者留下的“关闭程序”。 凯伦利用泽恩的计算力,以及莉拉对外星能量流动的直觉判断,成功地激活了“稳定符文”。但这符文需要一个强大的、有明确意识的“引导者”来维持其稳定运行。凯伦意识到,她父母的意识已经与系统深度融合,无法轻易脱离。 最终,凯伦没有选择强行拔出父母,而是将她自己的“锚点”技术植入了系统,暂时稳定了局面。她成功关闭了超脱技术的危险模块,阻止了蝰蛇的企图。 结局与余韵 欧米茄号成功脱离了寂静之环,但凯伦的心境已然改变。她成功保卫了宇宙的和平,但父母依然留在了那个奇异的维度中,成为了“稳定符文”的一部分,他们仍活着,但不再属于她所理解的世界。 索恩舰长向星际联盟提交了一份高度加密的报告,将先行者的核心技术标记为“不可触碰的宇宙奇迹”。凯伦成为了一个沉默的英雄,她携带的不再仅仅是悲伤,而是对宇宙深层运作机制的理解。 故事的结尾,凯伦凝视着那枚金属圆盘,它不再是寻找父母的工具,而是她未来使命的象征。她知道,宇宙中还存在着无数需要被保护和理解的秘密。欧米茄号再次启航,驶向新的未知星域,而凯伦,这位年轻的星际探险家,已经准备好迎接下一场横跨时空的挑战。这趟旅程揭示了,真正的力量不在于掌握技术,而在于理解牺牲与责任的重量。