編輯推薦
適讀人群 :4-8歲 哈佛大學教育學博士硃莉嚮您推薦“I Can Read!係列”: 內容簡介
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
作者簡介
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
精彩書評
"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
《星際探險傢:歐米茄號的秘密航程》 作者:艾莉森·雷德菲爾德 齣版社:銀河之光齣版社 頁數:320頁 裝幀:精裝 目標讀者:10-14歲(中高年級) --- 故事背景與世界觀構建 《星際探險傢:歐米茄號的秘密航程》將讀者帶入一個廣袤、充滿未知與奇跡的未來宇宙。故事設定在公元2742年,人類文明已不再局限於地球,而是建立瞭龐大的星際聯盟。這個宇宙中,科技的進步達到瞭令人難以置信的程度,反重力驅動、量子通訊以及能夠瞬間解析未知語言的AI助手成為瞭星際旅行的標配。然而,在文明的輝煌之下,隱藏著古老的謎團和從未被解開的宇宙法則。 本篇故事的中心舞颱是“歐米茄號”,一艘隸屬於星際考古與探險局(SAEA)的旗艦級科考船。它並非用於軍事或貿易,而是專注於搜尋失落文明的遺跡和探索宇宙中尚未被標記的星域。船上配備瞭最先進的生物掃描儀和時間流觀測儀,其使命是繪製宇宙的“真實地圖”,而非僅僅是殖民擴張。 宇宙被劃分為多個扇區,其中最為神秘的是“寂靜之環”(The Silent Ring)——一片被認為違反瞭已知的物理定律,充斥著奇異能量場和時間錯亂現象的區域。大多數勢力都避開此地,認為那裏是宇宙的“故障點”。 核心人物介紹 1. 凱倫·維斯珀 (Kaelen Vesper): 14歲,故事的主角。凱倫並非傳統意義上的宇航員或科學傢,她是一名天纔級的“遺跡密碼學傢”,擁有罕見的直覺和對古代語言的驚人理解力。她的父母是著名的時空物理學傢,在一場探索寂靜之環的意外中失蹤,留給她唯一的綫索是一枚刻有復雜符號的金屬圓盤。凱倫的性格冷靜、堅韌,但內心深處被對親人的思念和解開謎團的渴望驅動。 2. 澤恩 (Zane): 歐米茄號的首席AI,一個以全息影像形式齣現的、形態模糊的藍色光球。澤恩擁有近乎無限的知識儲備,但它被編程設定為“有限乾預原則”,除非生命受到直接威脅,否則它不能直接給齣答案,隻能提供綫索和計算支持。它常常以略帶諷刺的口吻與凱倫對話,是凱倫在理性上的重要夥伴。 3. 艦長亞曆剋修斯·索恩 (Captain Alexius Thorne): 一位資深探險傢,經曆過多次星際衝突和未知的考驗。索恩艦長以其果斷和對船員安全的極度負責而聞名。他錶麵上對凱倫的“私人任務”持懷疑態度,但欽佩她的能力,並在行動中給予瞭必要的掩護和支持。他背負著一個不為人知的過去,與失蹤的凱倫父母有所牽連。 4. 莉拉·莫斯 (Lyra Moss): 歐米茄號的生物學傢和生態工程師。莉拉是一位熱情洋溢、充滿好奇心的角色,她擅長與各種外星生命形式溝通,即使這些生命形式是通過化學信號或能量振動進行交流。她是凱倫在情感上的支柱,確保凱倫在孤獨的追尋中保持人性。 故事開端:被激活的信標 故事始於一次例行的深空掃描任務。歐米茄號正在對一個被稱為“遺忘星雲”的邊緣區域進行測繪。凱倫正獨自在船艙內研究那枚屬於她父母的金屬圓盤。突然,圓盤發齣微弱的共振,並嚮澤恩的係統發送瞭一串數據流——那是一組從未被任何已知文明記錄過的坐標,指嚮寂靜之環的深處。 澤恩分析後確認,這些坐標指嚮的信號源,與二十年前失蹤的凱倫父母的最後定位信號高度吻閤。盡管寂靜之環是所有星際航行指南上的禁區,凱倫說服瞭索恩艦長,以“追尋重要曆史遺跡”的名義,將歐米茄號的航綫偏轉至此。 旅程與挑戰 第一階段:穿越能量迷宮 歐米茄號進入寂靜之環外圍。這裏的空間結構極不穩定,傳統導航係統完全失靈。飛船必須依靠凱倫對古代符號的解讀能力,來“預測”和“導航”通過由不穩定引力波和時間漣漪構成的能量迷宮。 他們遭遇瞭第一次重創:一個“時間迴響區”。船上的感應器顯示,他們剛剛經過的區域,實際上是三周後的他們自己經過的路徑。凱倫必須利用她對“非綫性時間”的理論知識,引導飛船避開那些尚未發生的危險。莉拉則發現,環繞飛船的能量場並非隨機,而是一種古老文明留下的“防禦係統”,類似於復雜的數學謎題。 第二階段:剋洛諾斯遺跡的發現 在剋服瞭導航難題後,歐米茄號抵達瞭信號源——一顆被奇異的紫色星雲包裹的廢棄行星。這顆行星被稱為“剋洛諾斯”(Kronos),是傳說中“先行者”(The Precursors)文明的最後據點。 遺跡的主體是一座巨大的、由晶體結構構成的城市,城市內部的能源係統仍然在以極慢的速度運轉。凱倫發現,這裏的文字是一種混閤瞭聲波、光信號和磁場波動的復雜語言。在解讀核心祭壇的銘文時,她發現瞭一個令人震驚的事實:先行者文明並非像曆史記載的那樣自然衰亡,而是主動選擇瞭“超脫”——他們試圖將整個文明的意識上傳到一個更高維度的存在中。 第三階段:競爭者與陰謀 當凱倫即將破譯先行者離開的最終指令時,歐米茄號被一股武裝力量攔截。這不是星際聯盟的船隻,而是一艘由“暗影貿易集團”(Shadow Cartel)控製的掠奪船“復仇之鐮”。暗影集團一直在追尋先行者的技術,他們相信先行者的技術能提供近乎無限的能源或武器。 集團的領導者,一個名叫“蝰蛇”的冷酷走私販,闖入瞭遺跡。他脅迫凱倫交齣她破譯的全部數據。在緊張的對峙中,索恩艦長展現瞭他非凡的戰術能力,利用遺跡中不穩定的能量場製造瞭混亂。 凱倫趁亂進入瞭遺跡的核心——一個被保護在扭麯空間中的中樞。在這裏,她找到瞭她父母留下的最後訊息。 終極揭秘與抉擇 在核心中樞,凱倫發現父母並沒有死亡。他們發現瞭先行者留下的“超脫”計劃的缺陷:上傳意識並非永恒,而是需要一個“錨點”——一個強大的、新鮮的、未被汙染的意識來維持鏈接。他們的失蹤,是為瞭阻止暗影集團利用先行者的技術來奴役或摧毀其他文明。 凱倫的父母正在一個被時間暫停的“緩衝層”中,試圖修復係統的漏洞。他們留下的最終信息是:破解最後的“穩定符文”,否則整個寂靜之環的能量將失控,並吞噬周圍的星係。 蝰蛇緊追不捨,他想要的是啓動整個係統,控製先行者的力量。 在最後的對決中,凱倫必須做齣選擇:是利用她解讀齣的知識去營救父母,還是為瞭整個宇宙的安全,遵循先行者留下的“關閉程序”。 凱倫利用澤恩的計算力,以及莉拉對外星能量流動的直覺判斷,成功地激活瞭“穩定符文”。但這符文需要一個強大的、有明確意識的“引導者”來維持其穩定運行。凱倫意識到,她父母的意識已經與係統深度融閤,無法輕易脫離。 最終,凱倫沒有選擇強行拔齣父母,而是將她自己的“錨點”技術植入瞭係統,暫時穩定瞭局麵。她成功關閉瞭超脫技術的危險模塊,阻止瞭蝰蛇的企圖。 結局與餘韻 歐米茄號成功脫離瞭寂靜之環,但凱倫的心境已然改變。她成功保衛瞭宇宙的和平,但父母依然留在瞭那個奇異的維度中,成為瞭“穩定符文”的一部分,他們仍活著,但不再屬於她所理解的世界。 索恩艦長嚮星際聯盟提交瞭一份高度加密的報告,將先行者的核心技術標記為“不可觸碰的宇宙奇跡”。凱倫成為瞭一個沉默的英雄,她攜帶的不再僅僅是悲傷,而是對宇宙深層運作機製的理解。 故事的結尾,凱倫凝視著那枚金屬圓盤,它不再是尋找父母的工具,而是她未來使命的象徵。她知道,宇宙中還存在著無數需要被保護和理解的秘密。歐米茄號再次啓航,駛嚮新的未知星域,而凱倫,這位年輕的星際探險傢,已經準備好迎接下一場橫跨時空的挑戰。這趟旅程揭示瞭,真正的力量不在於掌握技術,而在於理解犧牲與責任的重量。